The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team continues NCAA Tournament regional play against the University of California-Santa Barbara. The elimination game begins Saturday at noon.

The Regional Field: UWM is the fourth seed in the four-team regional. Notre Dame is the top seed after winning the Big East regular season championship. California-Santa Barbara of the Big West Conference is the second seed. Florida International, which finished third in the Sun Belt conference, is the third seed.

How UWM Got Here: The Panthers won four straight games in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference Tournament to win the title and the accompanying automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The Panthers beat Detroit, 16-0, in the opening game of the tournament, then downed Wright State, 5-1, on the tournament's second day. Saturday, UWM faced moving into the losers' bracket, trailing UIC, 6-5, entering the bottom of the ninth. But, Scott Gillitzer's two-out, two-run single won the game for the Panthers, who then handled Cleveland State, 4-1, in the championship game.

Friday Night: UWM allowed nine runs in the fourth inning and could never recover in falling to Notre Dame, 12-4. Scott Gillitzer had two hits, including a three-run home run. The start of the game was delayed two hours and 24 minutes by rain. UCSB fell to Florida International, 17-4, in a game that ended at 12:43 a.m.

The Head Coach: Jerry Augustine is in his seventh season as the head coach at UWM. The former Milwaukee Brewer pitcher is 205-165-1, making him the winningest coach in UWM history. He won his 200th game May 12 against Butler, becoming the first Panther baseball coach to do so, and just the third coach in any sport at UWM to win 200 games. He was named the MCC Coach of the Year for the third time this season. Assistant head coach Todd Frohwirth, a former major league pitcher, handles the Panther pitching staff, while assistant coach Scott Doffek, who played in the Dodgers minor league system, handles the hitters.

NCAA Tournament History: The Panthers are 1-3 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, with their only other appearance coming in 1999. UWM beat top-ranked Rice in the opening game, and grabbed an early lead on Texas Tech in a winners bracket game before falling, 8-5. The Panthers were then eliminated from the tournament by Rice.

Panther Players In The NCAA's: Eight current Panthers played on the 1999 team that qualified for the NCAA Tournament. Darin Haugom, Jason Crawford and Mike Oiler were regular position players on the team, and Oiler also started 11 games on the mound. Crawford, Matt Freisleben and Quintin Oldenburg also pitched regularly for UWM that year. Paul Archambault started 30 games and Todd Grafenauer 17 games for the Panthers, while Kyle Raeder made 11 appearances and two starts on the mound for UWM.

California Dreaming: The Panthers have never faced a team from the state of California.

Looking At A Lefty: The Panthers are 10-1 this season against left-handed starting pitchers. UWM hits .359 against left-handed pitching.

Fast Starts: UWM has made a habit of starting fast offensively. The Panthers have scored 74 runs in the first inning, and have outscored opponents 74-27 in the first. The only inning in which the Panthers have scored more runs is the seventh, when they outscore opponents 78-27. But, after allowing nine runs in the fourth inning yesterday, UWM has now been outscored in the fourth inning, 69-61.

Post-Season Honors: Six Panthers were named to the MCC All-Tournament team. John VandenBerg was honored at catcher, while Dave Pudlosky, Scott Gillitzer and Steve Guden were honored in the infield. Darin Haugom was honored in the outfield, and Aaron Bushong was named to the all-tournament team as a pitcher. Gillitzer was named the tournament's MVP.

Bushong Is Strong: The stellar performance by Aaron Bushong in the MCC Tournament actually should have been no surprise when you consider his final two regular season starts. Bushong tossed a complete-game, allowing just one earned run, in beating Wright State May 5. Then, May 12, Bushong went seven strong innings, allowing just two runs against Butler in receiving a no decision. The Panthers went on to win that game in the eighth, and UWM has won all eight games Bushong has started this season. In the MCC Tournament, Bushong allowed just one run in 16 innings.

Crawford Cruising: Jason Crawford has split time between DH and outfield during this season, and his offense has picked up again of late. After a stretch that saw him go 0-for-9 in the middle of the season, Crawford has recorded three, three-hit games and a four-hit game. He went 7-for-16 in the MCC Tournament, and has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games.

Gillitzer Getting Them In Bunches: Scott Gillitzer has set what is believed to be a school record by recording 32 multi-hit games this season, including his two-hit performance last night. In fact, Gillitzer has had at least two hits in 11 of UWM's last 15 games. Gillitzer is hitting .465 (27-for-58) in those 15 games.

Goerdt Finds His Power: Eric Goerdt is tied for the team lead with 10 home runs, but halfway through the season you would have never believed it. The senior had just one home run after UWM completed a doubleheader sweep of Cleveland State - a stretch of 28 games. But, in the final 28 games, Goerdt has nine home runs, including three grand slams. He started his torrid power streak with a pair of home runs against Cleveland State April 22.

Goerdt On The Hill: Eric Goerdt has been stellar in his last two starts on the mound. In 14 innings, he has allowed just one run. He tossed a five-hit shutout at Butler May 12, then went 7 1/3 innings vs. Wright State in the MCC Tournament. After opening the season projected as the closer in the bullpen, Goerdt has gone 5-1 as a starter.

Guden's Good: Steve Guden has come on strong offensively in the second half of the season. His batting average dipped to .302 after an 0-for-3 series at Nebraska, but the junior has proceeded to add 74 points to that average entering today's game. He has at least two hits in seven of the last 16 games.

Leadoff Duties: Matt Houk has fulfilled the role of leadoff hitter perfectly. The senior shortstop has reached base in each of the last 27 games, getting hits in 25 of those games. He posts a .424 on base percentage to go along with his .357 batting average, and he also has 14 stolen bases.

National Numbers: For the third week in a row, UWM is ranked second nationally in batting average. The Panthers do have the highest-ranked average among teams in the NCAA Tournament - national leader Bowling Green did not qualify. UWM is also seventh in runs scored and 25th in winning percentage. Individually, Darin Haugom is 14th in the nation in batting average, while Scott Gillitzer stands 27th.

Up Next: The winner advances to a 7 p.m. elimination game against the loser of today's 3:30 p.m. game between Notre Dame and Florida International. The loser is eliminated from the NCAA Tournament.