Edwards Shines In Australian Debut

Contrary to the story I posted on uwmpanthers.com May 15, Traci Edwards, in fact, made her professional debut this past Saturday (May 30).

Her Caboolture Suns posted a 67-57 win over the Brisbane Capitals to move to 4-1 on the season.

As for Traci, it was a performance typical of her days in a Panther uniform: 30 points, 8 rebounds and 12-for-12 from the free throw line. She also hit on 9-of-16 from the field in 33 minutes.

At 4-1, the Suns sit in second place in the Queensland Basketball League (QBL), having won their last four contests.

There was anticipation of her arrival, as the local press was touting her as a "secret weapon" before the team's first game with her on board.

Live Blog: Baseball vs. UIC

Good morning and welcome back to the Pipe Yard for the third day of action for UWM in the Horizon League Tournament.

Another day and another elimination game for the Panthers, this time against UIC, a team that won 3 of 5 from Milwaukee during the regular season. The Flames, the top seed in the tournament, led 6-1 against Wright State last night after six innings, only to see the Raiders storm back for the 7-6 victory. The winner of this game will play them for the tournament championship.

Added perk today, as the Horizon League Network is here for the rest of the event.
David Wilson, the play-by-play voice of Cleveland State, is here to take you through the day.
The HLN is a free service, but you will need to sign up for it. The link is HERE.

Join us for the live blog HERE.
Once again, send any questions you have to me at czills@uwm.edu.

Due to some player health issues with the Flames, the line-ups were a little bit late in arriving...

Four every day starters for UIC are NOT in the line-up. Brandon Harwell (regular 1B) and Jason Ganek (normal 3B) are out, at the hospital with the flu. Nathan Orf, after going 5-for-5 last night and killing the Panthers during the regular season is out with a pulled hamstring. And, Chris Rutta, the normal RF, is out with a concussion after a diving attempt Thursday where he crashed into the fence...

UWM will take to the field like this:
Cole Kraft (SS), Shaun Wegner (C), Josh Groves (DH), Dan Buchholz (1B), Tim Patzman (LF), Shawn Wozniak (RF), Doug Dekoning (CF), Paul Hoenecke (3B) and Andy Gerhartz (2B).

On the mound for the big game, junior Nate Caldwell, making his 6th start of the year.

UIC counters with:
Tony Altavilla (2B0, Andy Leonard (3B), Jake Carr (DH), Brett Schaefer (1B), Rafael Garcia (SS), John Rosinski (LF), Steven Humble (C), Ty Rubio (RF) and Steve McGuiggan (CF).

On the mound, Michael Heesch, 4-0 with a 4.05 ERA.

For UWM game notes, click HERE.
For updated UWM stats, click HERE.
For UIC game notes, HERE.
For UIC updated stats, HERE.
For Gametracker, click HERE after first pitch.

Live Blog: Baseball vs. Cleveland State

Welcome back to Pipe Yard Stadium...
UWM faces one more elimination game this afternoon and will face Cleveland State, getting underway at 2 p.m. CST. The Vikings knocked off Valparaiso in their first game of the tournament before getting roughed up by UIC last night.

The UWM lineup is:
Cole Kraft (SS), Shaun Wegner (C), Josh Groves (DH), Dan Buchholz (1B), Tim Patzman (LF), Shawn Wozniak (RF), DOug Dekoning (CF), Paul Hoenecke (3B) and Andy Gerhartz (2B).

On the mound for the big game, freshman Kyle Schmidt.
He is 3-4 with a 5.01 ERA in 12 games, and this will be his 11th start.

Join us for the live blog HERE and send any questions my way at czills@uwm.edu.

Cleveland State counters with:
Brad Buell (2B), Travis Miller (CF), Ryan Franks (LF), Josh Hungerman (DH), Alex Johnson (RF), Tyler Winn (1B), Jon Foco (3B), Kyle Shaffer (C) and Tom Carter (SS).

On the mound, Nate Dick, who is 4-1 in 9 games this year with a 3.49 ERA.
Nice numbers. This will be just his 5th start of the year.

For UWM game notes, click HERE.
For CSU's notes, click HERE.
For Gametracker, click HERE after first pitch.

Live Blog: Baseball vs. Valparaiso

Good morning and welcome back to the Pipe Yard for today's Horizon League Tournament action. After yesterday's "debacle", UWM will have it's work cut out for it, as we will now need to win 5 straight games to claim the tourney crown.

Game 1 in that line will be against Valparaiso, a team that took 2 of 3 from Milwaukee during the regular season. The Crusaders lost to Cleveland State in the opener, and then got past Butler yesterday to get to this point...

Join us for the live blog HERE.

If you have any questions today, send them my way at czills@uwm.edu...

We are about 35 minutes from first pitch and the line-ups are in.
Milwaukee is:
Cole Kraft (SS), Shaun Wegner (C), Josh Groves (DH), Dan Buchholz (1B), Tim Patzman (LF), Shawn Wozniak (RF), Doug Dekoning (CF), Paul Hoenecke (3B) and Andy Gerhartz (2B).

On the mound, RHP Brad Lusti, who is 4-4 with a 5.04 ERA through 12 starts in 2009.

Valparasio counters with:
Dan DeBruin (RF), Steven Scoby (LF), Matt Lenski (C), Josh Wallace (3B), Ryan O'Gara (1B), David Klein (DH), Andrew Quinnette (2B), Kyle Gaedele (CF) and Damon McCormick (SS).

On the mound, RHP John Snelton, 3-3 in 10 games with 6 starts.

For UWM game notes, click HERE.
For Valpo notes, click HERE.
For the Gametracker link, click HERE after first pitch.
Valpo also has a live broadcast, click HERE for that...

Live Blog: Baseball at Horizon League Tournament vs. Wright State

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the Pipe Yard in sunny and warm Lorain, Ohio.

Today's postseason game between the Wright State Raiders and your UWM Panthers is set to start in about 30 minutes. An absolutely gorgeous day to be playing baseball. Milwaukee enters on a nice streak, playing well the final week of the regular season to earn the No. 2 seed in the event.

The Panthers have had great success in the Horizon League Tournament, winning league titles in 1999, 2001 and 2002. In 1999, UWM bounced back from a game one loss to win four-straight games and advance to the NCAA Regional. For the back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002, Milwaukee went a perfect 4-0 in the tournament each season. The first of the three crowns came as a No. 2 seed, while the last two were as the No. 1. A year ago, Milwaukee finished runner-up to UIC, missing a return trip to the NCAA Regionals by one win. That marked the 2nd time in 4 years the team placed second.

Once again, if you are following along today and have any questions, feel free to send them my way at czills@uwm.edu.

Join us for the live blog HERE.

The line-ups are in:
The Panthers will be the home team and are:
Cole Kraft (SS), Doug Dekoning (CF), Josh Groves (DH), Dan Buchholz (C), Tim Patzman (LF), Shawn Wozniak (1B), Paul Hoenecke (3B), Johann Andes (RF) and Andy Gerhartz (2B).

On the mound - a bit of a surprise to me - is Andy Hetebrueg...
Andy is 3-3 with a 5.16 ERA this year in 11 starts...

This will be a rematch of the April 11 game: Hetebrueg had allowed no runs, allowed just two hits, had walked none and struck out seven through eight innings that day. WSU rallied late, plating seven runs in the final inning to chase Hetebrueg, before UWM held on for the 8-7 victory.

The Raiders are:
RJ Gundolff (SS), Aaron Field (2B), Jeff Mercer (1B), Casey McGrew (LF), Quentin Cate (3B), Ryan Ashe (CF), Kory Twede (RF), Jake Hibbard (DH) and Garrett Gray (C)

On the mound is Greg Robinson, 1-2 with a 5.57 ERA in 13 games.
This will just be his 4th start of the season , however...

For UWM notes, click HERE.
For WSU notes, click HERE.
For WSU's internet broadcast, featuring SID Greg Campbell, click HERE.
For the Gametracker link, click HERE once the contest gets undeway...

Live Blog: Baseball vs. Northern Illinois

Good evening and welcome to Loves Park, Ill., and to Road Ranger Stadium for tonight's game between the Northern Illinois Huskies and your Milwaukee Panthers. This marks the final non-league game of the regular season for UWM.

We have played them at home (swept a pair), on the road (lost) and now at a neutral site this season, so these teams know each other about as well as any non-conference opponents can...

Road Ranger Stadium is the home of the Frontier League's Rockford RiverHawks ... seems like a pretty nice place. The contest will be the first-ever NCAA Division I game at the stadium. I am curious to see what attendance will end up shaping into.

Join us for the live blog HERE.

Anyways, the line-up for Milwaukee is:
Cole Kraft (SS), Andy Gerhartz (2B), Doug Dekoning (CF), Josh Groves (DH), Dan Buchholz (3B), Tim Patzman (LF), Shawn Wozniak (1B), Shaun Wegner (C) and Nino Guerrero (RF) will get the start in the field.

On the mound, junior Nate Caldwell, getting his fifth start of the campaign.

NIU is:
Jones (SS), Minogue (CF), Hood (LF), Reynolds (RF), Behm (C), Behren (DH), White (3B), Etcheverry (1B) and Buonavolonto (2b).

On the mound, Jake Hermsen, 1-1 with an 11.08 ERA in 5 games.

For UWM game notes, click HERE.
For NIU's game release, click HERE.
For Gametracker, click HERE after the first pitch.

Also, NIU has a radio broadcast available as well. For that, click HERE.