May 14, 2001

MILWAUKEE - The UWM baseball team will open Midwestern Collegiate Conference Tournament play Thursday morning at 11 a.m. against the University of Detroit.

The Panthers (35-16, 16-4 MCC) won the regular season MCC title and received the top seed in the conference tournament, which will be played at Les Miller Field on the campus of the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Detroit (10-39, 5-15) finished sixth during the regular season, dropping three-of-four to UIC this past weekend. The Panthers swept the Titans in Detroit during the regular season.

UWM finished the regular season with school records for victories (35), MCC victories (16), runs (489), RBI (431), hits (648), and stolen bases (86). The Panthers claimed their first-ever outright, regular season MCC crown.

UWM is 9-9 all-time in the MCC Tournament, and the Panthers won the tourney in 1999 - the last time the event was held at UIC. UWM was beaten by Butler in the championship game in 1998, and last year the Panthers were ousted by UIC.

Other first-round matchups find second-seeded UIC (30-26, 13-7) facing fifth-seeded Cleveland State (20-32, 6-14) at 3 p.m. Thursday, while third-seeded Wright State (31-25, 12-8) faces fourth-seeded Butler (24-28, 8-12) at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Action in the double-elimination tournament continues through Sunday. The tournament winner receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

2001 MCC Baseball Championship
Presented by Pepsi
Les Miller Field, Chicago, Ill. 

Thursday, May 17
Game 1: #1 Milwaukee (35-16) vs. #6 Detroit (10-39) 11 a.m. 
Game 2: #2 UIC (30-26) vs. #5 Cleveland State (20-32) 3 p.m.
Game 3: #3 Wright State (31-25) vs. Butler (24-28) 7 p.m.

Friday, May 18
Game 4: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 11 a.m.
Game 5: Winner of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 3 3 p.m.
Game 6: Winner of Game 2 vs. Winner of Game 3 7 p.m.

Saturday, May 19
Schedule TBA

Sunday, May 20
Schedule TBA