Senior Jesse Hart
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Milwaukee Baseball Off To Louisiana For Weekend Series With Centenary
Panthers and Gents battle in four-game set
March 5, 2008
This Week In Milwaukee Baseball
GAME #8
• UWM (1-6) vs. Centenary (5-2)
• Shehee Stadium, Shreveport, La.
• Fri., March 7 at 5 p.m. CST
• First meeting in the all-time series
• UWM RHP Craig Meier (1-1) vs. CC LHP Dakota Robinson (2-0)
GAME #9
• UWM (1-6) vs. Centenary (5-2)
• Shehee Stadium, Shreveport, La.
• Sat., March 8 at 11 a.m. CST
• UWM LHP Tim Hoy (0-2) vs. CC LHP Justin Kraft (2-0)
GAME #10
• UWM (1-6) vs. Centenary (5-2)
• Shehee Stadium, Shreveport, La.
• Sat., March 8 at 2 p.m. CST
• UWM RHP Brad Lusti (0-0) vs. CC RHP Jeremy Sheehan (0-1)
GAME #11
• UWM (1-6) vs. Centenary (5-2)
• Shehee Stadium, Shreveport, La.
• Sun., March 9 at noon CST
• UWM RHP Andy Hetebrueg (0-2) vs. CC LHP Johnny Noland (1-1)
Another weekend, another different state to travel to for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team. This time, it's a trip to Louisiana for a four-game series with Centenary College, starting Friday. The teams will open play at 5 p.m. Friday before playing doubleheader Saturday, starting at 11 a.m. The weekend wraps up with the finale Sunday, with a noon start.
Complete Release in PDF Format 
All four games in the series will be available on Centenary's website, www.gocentenary.com, via Game Watcher Live Stats. The Panthers and the Gents have never faced each other on the baseball diamond before. That also rings true for UWM against most current members of the Summit League, formerly the Mid-Continent Conference. In addition to never having played Centenary before, UWM has also not played current league members IUPUI, UMKC, North Dakota State, Oakland, South Dakota State and Southern Utah. And, the series' it has played against Summit League members have been brief: the Panthers are 3-1 against Western Illinois, 2-2 against IPFW and 0-1 against Oral Roberts.
The 2008 campaign marks the 44th season of baseball at UWM. It is also the 39th season of varsity play (the program was played at the club level from 1982-1986) and the 18th in the Panthers NCAA Division I era.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Centenary College is off to a fast start, already at 5-2 on the season after falling to Northwestern State, 3-0, Tuesday. The Gents took three of four from Northern Iowa to open the season and also swept a twinbill from Texas College Feb. 27. They are batting .327 as a team and have a 2.44 earned run average. The offense is led by Cameron Penny at .438 and Teddy Saens at .375 and as a team had stolen 15 bases in 18 tries through six games.
The Gents are coming off of 29-31 record and they closed out the year as runner-up to Oral Roberts in the Mid-Con Tournament. This season, Centenary is led by a strong pitching staff, which is anchored by Dakota Robinson. Robinson was named second team all-conference last year as a reliever, after leading the league with 31 appearances. He is already 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and nine strikeouts in nine innings this year. Justin Kraft (2-0, 1.00 ERA, 13 K's in 9.0 IP) is also off to a strong start.
UNGRACIOUS HOSTS
Milwaukee traveled to California last weekend, dropping a four-game set at Saint Mary's. The Gaels' pitching staff led the way, posting a 2.25 ERA while allowing 24 hits and nine earned runs in 36.0 innings against Milwaukee. It recorded 33 strikeouts and just nine walks as well.
Senior Jesse Hart was the top offensive threat, going 5-for-15 (.333) with a team-best five runs batted in during the week. Junior Josh Groves (.286) and freshman Cole Kraft (.278) were also near .300 for the series. Junior Brad Lusti came through with a nice start, getting a no-decision Saturday when he gave up just three hits and two runs in seven innings of work.
LET'S GO STREAKING
Senior Nick Wichser and junior Josh Groves each ended the 2007 season on a 16-game hitting streak. After the three-game set in Florida to open the season, they were both at 19 games and approaching some of the longest streaks in team history. Unfortunately, both streaks came to a close in the opener against Saint Mary's Friday. Wichser betted .392 in the streak, collecting 29 hits in 74 at-bats while driving in 19 runs. Groves hit at a .447 clip in his; going 34-for-76 with 25 runs batted in and 13 doubles in the stretch. The duo ended tied for the fifth-longest hitting streaks in team history.
1. 32; Mike Goetz, 2006
2. 27: Mike Goetz, end of 2005 through 2006
3. 22: Scott Gillitzer, 2001
4. 20: Rob Brockel, 2007
T5. 19, Wichser and Groves
SPEAKING OF...
Junior Josh Groves has a long streak going in the field as well. He will carry a 61-game errorless streak into play this weekend, last making a fielding miscue April 11, 2006 against UIC - a span of 196 straight chances. For his career, Groves has a .992 fielding percentage, making just two errors in 241 total chances in games at first base, catcher and third base. He did not make an error in the field during the entire 2007 season.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Plenty of the newcomers have had a chance to make their UWM debuts in the first two weeks of the season. In the field, freshman Cole Kraft is batting .304, making five starts in six games. Freshman Doug Dekoning has made six starts, collecting three hits and scoring three runs. Freshman Sam Sivilotti has a hit in four appearances, but, more impressively, already has three outfield assists. Junior transfer Ben Long is batting .250 through six starts.
On the mound, junior Craig Meier is 1-1 with a 3.95 earned run average and has a team-high 13.2 innings pitched and nine strikeouts. Junior Brad Lusti has recorded a 1.46 ERA in 12.1 innings, striking out four and limiting opponents to a .186 average.
WHAT? ME WORRY?
History for the Panthers proves that a slow start is not indicative of the way the rest of the season will go. Last year, the team finished 25-18 after a 14-game skid at the start of the season. In 2006, the team started 1-5 after its first six games before going 31-20 the rest of the way. In 2001, the Panthers went 39-18 overall after a 1-5 start. Lastly, and most impressively, they went 30-16 to finish 30-24 in 2000 after an 0-8 start.
GOING YARD EARLY
When junior Josh Groves hit two home runs in the opener, it marked the first time a UWM player ever had a multi-HR effort in the first game of the season.
Other multi-HR games that came early include:
Game 2 of season:
--Randy Wilke, 3/1/92: 2 HR vs. Indiana
Game 9 of season:
--Brett Huebner, 3/20/00: 2 HR vs. Jacksonville State
Game 11 of season:
--Scott Gillitzer, 3/22/00: 2 HR vs. Samford
Game 13 of season:
--Todd Ludwig, 3/17/99: 4 HR vs. Tennessee Tech
READY FOR BUS RIDES AND MOTEL STOPS...
The Panthers will be busier than ever while waiting for the snow to melt and Henry Aaron Field to be ready for them to play in Milwaukee. While that happens, they will be playing 27-straight road games to open 2008, the most-ever to start a season in their NCAA Division I history. The previous record of 26 occurred in 2001. UWM will take it as a good sign - the team went 15-11 in those 26 games in 2001 and also had a nine-game win streak in that stretch.
The Panthers will travel more than 12,000 miles over the course of the first seven weeks of the season via plane or bus, visiting six different states (Florida, California, Louisiana, Tennessee, Illinois and Indiana), including two trips to Indiana and four separate road trips to Illinois.
PRESEASON SHOWINGS
Milwaukee was picked to take second in the Horizon League season preview put out by www.rivals.com last month, one spot ahead of UIC and behind league favorite Wright State. Three players made its Preseason All-Conference Team: seniors Jesse Hart (at 2B) and Nick Wichser (OF) and junior Josh Groves (3B). UWM was the only team to have three players on the list.
The most recent issue of Baseball America featured its 2008 College Preview as well. The Panthers were slotted for third in its version, behind UIC and, once again, WSU as the top pick. Hart and Groves appeared on the Preseason All-Conference Team.
GROVES GETTING `PUB'
Junior Josh Groves became the first Panther to ever be named to the College Baseball Foundation Brooks Wallace Award Watch List in December. The Wallace Award is presented annually to the nation's top collegiate baseball player.
Groves had a breakout season as a sophomore in 2007, leading the team with a .396 average while earning All-Horizon League First Team honors as a utility player to earn a spot on the list, which had its inception prior to the 2004 campaign.
Groves is one of just four players from the Horizon League to make the list, joining John Koehnlein of Youngstown State and the Wright State duo of Justin Parker and Jeremy Hamilton.
DOFFEK IN THE MIX
Milwaukee head coach Scott Doffek established a baseball program record last year for wins by a first-year coach with 25 victories, breaking the former mark of 21. The mark for most wins by a head coach in his first two seasons? That would be 44 by former skipper Jerry Augustine, with 21 in 1995 and 23 in 1996.
HART ON SEASON-LONG MISSION
Senior Jesse Hart will look to put in name in the UWM record books in numerous spots over the course of his final season. In addition to chasing career records in several categories, he will also look to become the first-ever Panther to bat over .300 in each of his four seasons in a Milwaukee uniform. Charlie Reschke (2002-05) was the last senior in line to give it a shot, but batted .287 his final season.
Hart, a career .342 hitter, batted an impressive .371 in 35 games as a freshman in 2005, .315 in 55 games as a sophomore and .360 as a junior a year ago.
CAREER RECORDS CHASE
AT-BATS HITS
1. 737, Ross McCoy (2004-07) 1. 245, Darin Haugom (1997-2001)
2. 692, Darin Haugom (1997-2001) 2. 220, Ross McCoy (2004-07)
3. 683, Charlie Reschke (2002-05) 3. 213, Charlie Reschke (2002-05)
4. 610, Chad Sadowski (1997-2000) 4. 197, Chad Sadowski (1997-2000)
5. 548, Jesse Hart 5. 186, Jesse Hart
BIG SHOES TO FILL
The Panthers will look to replace four team members (three position players and one pitcher) that all earned Second Team All-Horizon League honors a year ago. The trio of position players (Ross McCoy, Rob Brockel, Grant Berkovitz) accounted for 618 at-bats and a composite .306 batting average, 110 runs scored and 102 runs batted in. The pitcher (Robert Michalkiewicz) led the squad in earned run average, wins, games started, innings pitched, shutouts and complete games and was second in strikeouts.
PROFESSIONAL PANTHERS
Another summer of baseball meant another summer of former Panthers playing professionally across the United States. Mike Goetz batted .318 for the Helena Brewers, the Rookie League affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. He scored 28 runs in 46 games, recording 27 runs batted in and stealing 11 bases before getting called up to the Huntsville Stars at the end of the season. Ross McCoy signed as a free agent with the Utica Brewmasters in the New York State League in June. After the short state league season was over, he was promoted to the Lincoln Saltdogs of the American Association on July 21 where he batted .302 in 29 games, scoring 11 times, recording seven doubles, one home run and drove in 12 runs. Joe Nowicki started the season with Frederick Keys of the Carolina League, going 2-for-3 in one game before being transferred to the Aberdeen Ironbirds for the remainder of the season. There he batted .283 on the season, hitting .330 in July. Nowicki hit eight home runs and drove in 41 in 69 games en route to being named to the New York-Penn League All-Star Game. Ben Stanczyk was a Florida State League All-Star with the Brevard County Manatees, recording a 7-4 record with three saves in 43 games. He started four times, striking out 71 batters in 78.2 innings.
PRESEASON POLL
The Panthers were picked third in the 2008 Horizon League preseason baseball poll. They will look to improve on their third place finish from a year ago, when they had their season come to a close in extra innings just one game away from the league tournament championship.
Wright State was the top pick to win the league in the vote of Horizon League head coaches. The Raiders went 36-22 last year, falling in the league tournament championship to UIC. They received 34 points and four of the seven first-place votes. UIC took a close second despite having won its sixth-straight regular season title in 2007 and third tournament crown in that span as well, advancing to the NCAA Tournament.
1. Wright State (4) - 34 points
2. UIC (3) - 32 points
3. Milwaukee - 25 points
4. Butler - 17 points
5. Youngstown State - 14 points
6. Cleveland State - 13 points
7. Valparaiso - 12 points
HIGH SCHOOL HONORS
Freshman Doug Dekoning earned a prestigious high school honor, as he was named the 2007 recipient of the Dick Falk Award in November. The honor is presented each season by the Old Time Ballplayers Association of Wisconsin and is given to the high school player of the year in the state. Dekoning enjoyed a stellar high school career at Menomonee Falls High School. He comes to Milwaukee after being named the Greater Metro Conference Player of the Year as a senior after hitting .448 with 48 hits and 34 runs batted in. He led his team to a 69-9 record his last two years, winning back-to-back Greater Metro Conference titles.
ON TAP
Milwaukee sets off for Clarksville, Tenn., next weekend. There they will face Austin Peay in a three-game series starting Friday.
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