May 21, 2002

Tournament Notes in PDF Format
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Tournament Bracket in PDF Format
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Horizon League Baseball Championship

Thurs. May 23-Sun. May 26

Jacobs Field - Cleveland, OH

* The Week Ahead

UWM looks for its third trip to the NCAA Tournament as the Horizon League Championship begins in Cleveland, Ohio. The Panthers open the tournament against fifth-seeded Cleveland State. With a win UWM would play at 6:30 p.m. EDT on Friday night, while with a loss the Panthers would play at 10:30 a.m. EDT.

* Red-Hot Panthers

UWM has been the hottest team in the Horizon League down the stretch. The Panthers enter the tournament having won 17 of their final 22 games. After starting the season 4-10, UWM has gone 28-8. The hot streak can in part be attributed to UWM's work in close games. Over the final 36 games of the season, the Panthers were 8-2 in one-run games and 17-4 in games decided by three runs or less. During the first 14 games of the season, UWM lost five one-run games.

* Record Streak

UWM's loss in game one of its May 11 doubleheader with Youngstown State snapped the Panthers' school-record 13-game winning streak. The streak included eight-straight league wins, seven-straight road wins and three wins over Big 10 foes. The streak included four one-run wins and four other games decided by either two or three runs. Plus, loss that stopped the streak was by one run.

* My What A May

UWM's school-record winning streak extended through much of the early part of May, giving the Panthers a stellar mark in the fifth month of the year. UWM is 13-4 in May. The Panthers were 15-5 in May last year.

* April Wasn't Bad Either

UWM was 15-6 in April and won 12 of its final 15 games in the month. That was also the month where UWM surpassed the .500 mark for good during the season, doing it with a win in game three of its series at Butler. UWM was also 15-6 in April last year.

* 30 Wins Again!

UWM finished the regular season with 31 wins, marking its fifth-straight 30- win season, easily a school-record. The Panthers hit the 30-win mark last week against Chicago State. Also, UWM's 15 league wins are the second-most in school history.

* Freeze Saving The Day

Senior Matt Freisleben struggled in the weekend series with UIC but it could hardly put a damper on the best single-season by a UWM reliever in school history. Freisleben has collected a school-record 15 saves during the regular season and was ranked as high as second nationally in saves this year. He broke his own record for single-season appearances by pitching in 34 games and has now pitched in 112 career games. He has 18 career saves, the second-best mark in school history. He has allowed just nine of 34 inherited runners to score this season.

* 'Q' Up The Record

Quintin Oldenburg added to his school-record totals for wins and strikeouts in tossing a complete-game six-hitter against UIC Saturday afternoon. Oldenburg officially became the career leader in both categories while tossing a school-record 10 shutout innings as UWM collected a 1-0 win over Detroit on May 4. The senior right-hander allowed just six hits and did not walk a batter while striking out nine. He was named the Horizon League Pitcher of the Week for his work. He now has 232 career strikeouts and 25 career wins.

* Dandy Vandy Tops The List

Senior John Vanden Berg has easily been the top offensive performer for the Panthers this season, spending much of the early season flirting with the .500 mark before settling in around .400 for the year. Vanden Berg had three hits in Sunday's series finale with UIC and, earlier in the week, collected four hits in a game against Chicago State. He leads UWM in batting average, home runs and RBIs and has recorded 17 multi-hit games and 12 multi-RBI games.

* Doering Does It

Troy Doering has made a huge impact on the Panther offense since moving into the leadoff spot earlier this season. The junior transfer has reached base safely in 29-straight games, collecting a hit in 24 of those games. He has upped his season average to .302 heading into the post-season. He leads the team with 17 stolen bases - the fifth-most in a single season in UWM history. Eleven of those stolen bases came in league games. He also has 32 walks which calculates to a .418 on-base percentage. Doering has been in the leadoff spot for 35 games during which UWM has a 24-11 mark.

* Pudlosky Performs

Dave Pudlosky has put together a stellar second half of the season, capping it with eight hits in the four games against UIC this past weekend. He has pushed his batting average from a mid-season low of .118 to a season-high of .315 entering the post-season by hitting safely in 24 of his last 30 games. He hit .352 in league contests with a team-high 23 RBI.

* Christ Gets Hot

Senior transfer Adam Christ will carry an eight-game hitting streak into the Horizon League Tournament, the longest active streak among Panther hitters. Christ has gone 11-for-27 during the streak, scoring nine runs and upping his batting average to .291. He has split his time between second base and shortstop this season and should receive all-league consideration at one of the middle infield positions.

* Series Success

UWM saw an impressive streak come to a close when UIC took three of four games from the Panthers over this past weekend. UWM had avoided losing a league series since May of 1999, when Cleveland State won three of four games over the Panthers. The streak included 15 series, totaling 10 series wins and five series splits.

* Long Night

Friday's 11-6 loss to UIC was long for many reasons, but it was also long when checking the clock. The game took two hours and 52 minutes, the third-longest game of the season for the Panthers and the longest league game UWM played all season.

* Hit Parade

UWM gave up a season-high 21 hits in Friday's loss to UIC. The Panthers had allowed 17 hits against Nebraska in early April. UWM then gave up 11 hits in game two of Saturday's doubleheader with the Flames, but the Panthers have still only allowed their opponent to reach double-figures in hits in six of their last 36 games.

* New Face, Strong Arm

Geoff Lefeber has been the most pleasant surprise on the Panther pitching staff this season and he again showed why Friday night in allowing just two earned runs in six-plus innings of work against UIC. On the season, the transfer from UW-La Crosse has a perfect 4-0 mark and a 2.08 ERA. He has a minuscule 1.33 ERA in six league appearances. Lefeber has led the Horizon League in ERA through much of the late season and has ranked in the top 20 nationally for the last few weeks.

* The Men In The Middle

Middle relief has played a key role in the success of the Panther pitching staff this season and that was never more apparent than this past week. Against Chicago State, Ben Stanczyk worked 3 1/3 innings of one-hit relief to claim the win in game one, while Cory Kleeba worked two innings of hitless relief in game two to get his third win. Kleeba then worked a career-high 7 1/3 innings in relief Sunday against UIC, keeping the Panthers in the game after an early 5-0 deficit.

* Mound Mastery

Runs have been hard to come by for UWM opponents this season. The Panthers have their season ERA at 4.30, on pace to smash the school record mark of 4.73 set last year. Panther pitchers have also thrown four shutouts.

* Home Cooking

UWM set another school record by winning 16 games at home this season. The Panthers are 42-9 at home over the last three seasons.

* Getting Used To Home

UWM was able to equal its most extensive home schedule in school history this season despite difficult weather throughout much of the spring. UWM played a total of 20 home games - including two at Miller Park - equaling the most home games the Panthers have ever played. UWM played 20 home games in 1997.

* Hitting Streaks Of Note

Two Panthers put together double-figure hitting streaks this season, as John Vanden Berg and David Michna each hit safely in 10 consecutive games. Dave Pudlosky hit safely in nine-straight contests.

* Rain, Rain Go Away

For the first time since the 2000 season, UWM had a league game postponed by rain. The last time prior to May 12 at Youngstown State was in April of 2000 when a four-game series at Butler was shortened to a two-game series. The streak of regular-season league games for UWM without a rainout had hit 55 games.

* Other Weather Troubles

Along with the league contest at Youngstown State, UWM had to cancel four others games due to the weather. The Panthers' three-game series at Creighton and single game with Nebraska-Omaha was wiped out due to a March snowstorm. A single game with Concordia (Wis.) also got taken off the schedule when the Falcons had a league conflict caused by bad weather earlier in the season.

* Career Day For Charlie

Freshman Charlie Reschke has found a regular place in the Panther batting order. Reschke recorded the first four-hit game of his career in the game-one loss to Youngstown May 11. He is hitting .286 on the season and has made 42 appearances, including 33 starts, splitting his time between the infield and outfield.

* Dolan Did It

Making his first start and just fifth appearance of the season April 28 against Cleveland State, redshirt freshman Ryan Dolan made the most of his opportunity. Dolan went 4-for-5, driving in four runs and scoring two more. The four hits surpassed the three total hits he had on the season entering the contest. Dolan finished the regular season with seven hits in 20 at bats.

* Pitrof Pounding The Ball

Jeff Pitrof responded much of the season when his name was placed on the Panther lineup card. The backup catcher cracked a grand slam and drove in five runs in UWM's 15-2 win April 28 over Cleveland State. In three appearances during that week, Pitrof had six hits in 13 at bats and drove in nine runs.

* Back-To-Back From Bushong

Aaron Bushong put together back-to-back complete game efforts for the Panthers in league play during the middle of the season, shutting down Butler and Cleveland State in contests during April. He allowed just three runs and 10 hits in his 14 innings of work during those two contests. He also went the distance in an 11-4 win over Rider in March.

* Tough Against Detroit

The four-game sweep of Detroit extended a lengthy streak of wins by UWM over the Titans. The Panthers haven't lost to Detroit since April 10, 1999, a streak of 16 games.

* Run Shortage

UWM didn't put too many dents in the Bulldog Park scoreboard during the weekend series at Butler April 19-21. The Panthers scored just nine runs - the fewest UWM has ever scored in a four-game league series.

* No Sweeping Successes

UWM wound up splitting two doubleheaders at home but kept alive a streak of avoiding home doubleheader sweeps. The Panthers haven't been swept at home in a doubleheader since the 1998 season. UW-Parkside was the last team to sweep a pair from UWM at home, doing it in 1998. The last league foe to accomplish the feat against the Panthers was Detroit in 1997.

* The Comeback Kids

UWM brought back memories of some of its greatest wins last season with a pair of comeback wins against Wright State to open the league season. The Panthers won the second game of the Saturday doubleheader, 6-5, on the strength of a four-run seventh inning. Then, UWM won Sunday's series finale with a three-run eighth inning to overcome a 4-2 deficit.

* Big On The Big 10

UWM went 3-1 against Big 10 teams this season after its doubleheader sweep of Iowa May 7. The Panthers have beaten Iowa four-straight times and also beat Northwestern.

* Florida Fun

UWM continues to experience great success at the Homestead Challenge. The Panthers were 4-2 in the Challenge this year after a perfect 8-0 mark last season. UWM's offense always seems to enjoy the warm Florida air, as the Panthers have scored 154 runs in their 14 contests in Florida in the last two years. UWM hit .323 in six Challenge games this year.

* A Miller Moment

UWM took full advantage of its first chance to play at Miller Park, hanging on for a 5-4 win over Bradley in the first game before routing the Braves, 20-7, in the second game. John Vanden Berg, son of Brewers groundskeeper Gary Vanden Berg, cracked a tape-measure three-run home run to left to highlight the day. The April 24 doubleheader also included the largest crowd ever to witness the Panthers play baseball in Milwaukee as 1,056 fans attended.

* Player Of The Week Honorees

UWM has had three players honored as the Horizon League Player of the Week earlier this year. Dave Pudlosky was the most recent honoree, winning the award after collecting 10 hits in 20 at bats in a week that saw the Panthers go 5-1. Steve Guden won the award the week before after collecting 11 hits in 20 at bats during a six-game span that saw the Panthers go 4-2. John Vanden Berg won the award in March after hitting .588 with 10 hits in four games.

* Tough Early Season

Sure enough, UWM's return to Wisconsin meant more success on the field. The Panthers battled through the most difficult non-conference schedule in school history during February and March. UWM dropped a pair of games to Nebraska to wind up the difficult stretch in early April. The Cornhuskers made the College World Series a season ago. UWM also faced defending national champion Miami (Fla.), Northern Iowa, which qualified for the NCAA Tournament last year, and Illinois. UWM also played six games against Big 12 schools.

* Fresh Faces

The lineup UWM fielded in its season opener with Kansas in February included newcomers in five of the nine spots in the batting order, and the trend of using newcomers has continued throughout the early season. Ben Beno, a transfer from UW-Oshkosh, was in center field while Adam Christ, a transfer from Iowa State, was at shortstop. Newcomers David Michna, P.J. Cannon and Troy Doering were also in the starting lineup. Plus, the starting pitcher in each half of the doubleheader with Kansas on day two of the series was new to the Panther program. In total, the roster includes 18 players that did not play for UWM last year.

* Picked To Win

UWM was picked to win the 2002 Horizon League championship. They received four first-place votes and 34 total points in voting conducted among league coaches. UIC received two first-place votes and was picked to finish second. UWM was also been picked to win the league crown in a number of publications.

* Panther Background

UWM won the regular season and tournament titles in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference last season, claiming its second berth in the NCAA Tournament. UWM finished the season 39-18, setting a new school record for wins. The Panthers were eliminated from NCAA Tournament play by Notre Dame and UC-Santa Barbara.

* Returning With Honors

A handful of Panthers honored by the league last season are back this year. Senior Quintin Oldenburg is the reigning League Pitcher of the Year, while John Vanden Berg was the League Co-Newcomer of the Year. Oldenburg was on the all-league first team while Steve Guden joined Vanden Berg on the second team and the all-newcomer team.

* Tough To Replace

The newcomers on this year's roster have plenty of big shoes to fill. In total, the players lost to graduation from last year's roster combined for 39 home runs and 301 RBIs, while on the mound the group recorded an 18-7 mark with four saves.

* Up Next

The winner of the Horizon League Tournament gains an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. The tournament pairings will be announced at 11:30 a.m. CDT Monday on ESPN2. Tournament play would then start Friday, May 31.