May 15, 2001

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team travels to Chicago, Ill., for the Midwestern Collegiate Conference Tournament, which begins Thursday. The six-team, double-elimination tournament continues through Sunday, with the winner receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

MCC Champs: UWM won its first-ever, outright MCC regular season championship as it won three-of-four games over Butler this past weekend. Last year, the Panthers shared the MCC regular season crown with Illinois-Chicago. Two years ago the Panthers finished second during the regular season but won the MCC Tournament.

Inside The Butler Series: UWM exploded for 17 runs Friday night before pitching took over for the remainer of the weekend. Saturday in game one, UWM scored all seven of its runs in the sixth inning en route to a 7-0 win, while the Panthers scored twice in the seventh and once in the eighth to win 3-2 in game two. Sunday, Troy Parton shut down the Panther offense as Butler salvaged the final game of the series, 4-1.

The Regular Season In The MCC: UWM wound up winning the MCC regular season title by three games, as UIC won three-of-four over Detroit this weekend. Wright State finished third.

MCC Tournament Track: All six teams qualify for the MCC Tournament, and all teams will be in action on the first day. UWM opens the tournament Thursday morning at 11 a.m. against Detroit. A team must win a minimum of four games to claim the conference post-season championship.

UWM's MCC Tourney History: The Panthers are 9-9 all-time at the MCC Tournament, with their first appearance coming in 1996. UWM advanced to the championship game in 1998 before winning the title for the first time in 1999. Last year, UWM was knocked out by UIC on the third day of the tournament.

Breaking Records: The Panthers have already set a number of school records during the 2001 season, including marks for wins overall (35) and MCC wins (16), besting marks originally set in 1998. UWM has also set school records for runs (489), RBI (431), hits (648), and stolen bases (86). The Panther offense is also on pace to shatter the school record for batting average in a season (.329 - 1998), with UWM's team average at .356 entering the MCC Tournament.

Hits Leader: Scott Gillitzer set a new, single-season record for hits when he hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning Friday night against Butler. That was his 80th hit of the season, breaking the mark of 79 set by Steve Tylke in 1999. Gillitzer enters the MCC Tournament with 83 hits.

Wins Leader: Quintin Oldenburg won his ninth game of the season last Tuesday against Eastern Illinois. That set a new school record, besting the mark of eight shared by Andy Neary (2000) and Rob Becker (1996). Oldenburg now has 17 career wins, placing him third on the all-time wins list at UWM.

Number 200: Saturday's game one win over Butler was the 200th career victory for Jerry Augustine as the head coach at UWM. Augustine, the winningest baseball coach in UWM history, became the first baseball coach at UWM to win 200 games. Augustine is also just the third coach in ANY sport at UWM to win 200 games, and the first to do so exclusively at the NCAA Division I level.

A Slamming Success: Eric Goerdt had a day to remember Saturday, as he tossed a complete-game, five-hit shutout and hit a grand slam as UWM beat Butler, 7-0. The shutout was the first of his career, and the grand slam gave him nine home runs for the season and 17 for his career. And, though Goerdt saw his season average slip to .397 over the weekend, the senior remains on pace to wrap up his career with a .400 batting average after hitting .403 last season.

Freezing The Runners: Junior Matt Freisleben has been remarkable out of the Panther bullpen this season. The sidearm right-hander has yielded just four earned runs in 32 innings this season while appearing in 26 games - tying his own school record. Freisleben's 1.12 ERA would shatter the current school record, and most amazingly Freisleben has issued just two walks and has allowed just one home run this season. He also did not allow an earned run in eight MCC apperances.

Comeback Kid: UWM has started to make a habit of late-inning comebacks, and three jump to mind when reflecting on the 2001 regular season. Against Cleveland State, in game one of a doubleheader, UWM trailed 3-1 entering the bottom of the sixth inning. But, Steve Guden hit a two-run home run to tie the game in the sixth, and John VandenBerg hit a game-winning, two-run homer in the seventh. Against UW-Parkside, in game two of a doubleheader, UWM trailed 11-7 entering the seventh inning but cracked three home runs and scored five runs to win, 12-11. Saturday in game two of a doubleheader against Butler, the Panthers trailed 2-0 entering the bottom of the seventh. But, Scott Gillitzer hit a two-run home run to right to tie the game, and the Panthers won the game on a Jason Crawford double in the eighth.

Streaks Of Note: All of UWM's notable hitting streaks have come to a close entering MCC Tournament play, but a number of Panthers have put together streaks that will land them in the Panther record book. Scott Gillitzer holds the school record after hitting in 22 straight games. That streak ended in game two of the doubleheader against Eastern Illinois Tuesday. John VandenBerg saw his 17-game hitting streak end Sunday. Eric Goerdt had an 18-game hitting streak earlier this season, while Matt Houk had a 15-game streak and has hit safely in 20 of the last 21 games. Darin Haugom had streaks of 14 and 11 games earlier this season, and Haugom has hit safely in 39 of his 41 starts.

400 Club: Two Panthers are members of the .400 club entering the MCC Tournament. Darin Haugom is hitting .441, while Scott Gillitzer is hitting .409. Eric Goerdt has flirted with the .400 mark throughout the season, and currently stands at .397.

Stopping The MCC: Right-hander Mike Oiler has been dominant in his five MCC starts, compiling a 5-0 record and a 2.47 ERA. Oiler tossed his third straight MCC complete game Friday against Butler. Overall, Oiler is second on the team with eight wins.

National Numbers: For the second week in a row, UWM is second in the nation in batting average, with its .357 mark trailing only Bowling Green at .360. UWM is fifth in the nation in runs scored per game. Darin Haugom is eighth in the nation in hitting, while Scott Gillitzer is 31st and Eric Goerdt is 50th.

MCC Leaderboard: A number of UWM players are amongst the MCC's statistical leaders, while the Panthers lead the MCC in hitting and stand second in the league in ERA. Darin Haugom is second in the league in hitting and on base percentage, sixth in hits, first in stolen bases and slugging percentage, and second in triples. Scott Gillitzer is second in hits, fourth in home runs, third in on base percentage, second in slugging percentage, and second in RBI. Quintin Oldenburg is second in the league in ERA and wins and sixth in the league in strikeouts.

Player Of The Week Honors: UWM players have been honored as the MCC Player of the Week four times this season. Darin Haugom won the award twice, once in March and again in April. John VandenBerg won the award in March after hitting three home runs in a series against Evansville. And, Steve Guden won the award two weeks ago after going 10-for-14 in four games against Wright State. No UWM pitcher was honored as the MCC Pitcher of the Week this season.

Road Warriors: UWM played its first 26 games away from home, and the Panthers played a total of 30 away games and eight more on neutral fields during the regular season. But, being on the road hasn't been all bad for the Panthers. UWM has a perfect 8-0 record on neutral fields thanks to its perfect trip to Florida. The Panthers are 15-10 on the road overall since losing their first five games away from home, and UWM finished 9-3 on the road in MCC play.

Wisconsin Flavor: 24 of the 26 players on the UWM roster as the season begins are from the state of Wisconsin. Senior Jason Crawford from Wonder Lake, Ill., and senior Eric Goerdt from Cherry, Minn., are the only two Panthers from beyond the state's borders.

Dodging The Weather: UWM lost a total of three games on its schedule due to weather. The Panthers were snowed out of a trip to Omaha in February to face Creighton and Nebraska-Omaha. UWM made up the three games with Creighton, but the single game with UNO was cancelled. A doubleheader at Bradley was also cancelled because of bad field conditions in Peoria.

Offensive Explosion: The 27 runs UWM scored in its win over Chicago State April 19 marked the most runs for the Panthers since scoring 28 against Concordia (Wis.) in 1993. The 27 runs are also the most UWM has ever scored against a Division I opponent.

Eight Is Enough: When UWM claimed a 9-8 win over Evansville March 11, it marked the earliest victory for the Panthers in the last three seasons. The past two years, UWM had lost its first eight games before breaking through with a victory. Last year, UWM swept Jacksonville State to break free of the slow start, while two years ago UWM broke through with a win over Alabama-Birmingham. The Panthers have put together some better starts, too. In 1997, UWM opened the season with a win over St. Joseph's (Ind.). In 1998, the Panthers recorded the best 20-game season opening stretch in school history, as UWM followed an 0-4 start with wins in 14 of its next 16 games.

Picked To Win: UWM was picked to win the 2001 MCC Championship in a poll of the league's coaches. The Panthers received three first-place votes and 23 points in the balloting, edging out UIC, which also received three first-place votes and totaled 22 points.

Tough Competition: UWM has faced five teams this season that qualified for last year's NCAA Division I Tournament. The Panthers are 5-10 against the group that includes Creighton, Texas, Evansville, Nebraska, and Butler.

Returnees Honored: A number of Panthers who returned for this season were honored by the MCC following the conclusion of the 2000 season. Eric Goerdt was named the MCC Newcomer of the Year and a first-team All-MCC performer. Outfielder Darin Haugom was also named to the All-MCC First Team. Scott Gillitzer was named to the All-MCC Second Team and All-Newcomer Team, while Matt Houk was named to the All-Newcomer Team. Coach Jerry Augustine was honored as the MCC's Co-Coach of the Year. This year's awards will be handed out Wednesday, May 16, at the league's annual baseball banquet.

Up Next: The winner of the MCC Tournament receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, which begins Friday, May 25 at 16 regional sites. The two regional sites closest geographically to the MCC are South Bend, Ind., and Columbus, Ohio. Last year's MCC champion Butler traveled to Minneapolis, Minn., for regional play, while UWM was sent to Lubbock, Texas, for regional play two years ago.