Iowa Baseball Midweek Preview: Milwaukee Panthers

The Hawkeyes have completed their road trip and will be back at Duane Banks Field a game earlier than expected. Forecasted weather conditions to the north were not great, so instead, the Milwaukee will come to Iowa City for a Tuesday midweek matchup with Iowa.

Rick Heller’s squad is coming off of another series win in Big Ten play, taking two of three from Northwestern in Evanston over the weekend. Iowa dropped the series finale in walk off fashion on Sunday but enter this week having won 17 of their last 21 games.

First pitch for Tuesday’s game between the Hawkeyes and Panthers is scheduled for 4:02pm CT on BTN+. It will be the 25th all-time meeting between the two programs, with Iowa leading the series 14-10, including wins in each of the last seven meetings dating back to 2016. The Hawkeyes defeated Milwaukee 12-6 in Iowa City last season.

Milwaukee Panthers (9-20, 7-4)

Milwaukee has not had a season above .500 since 2019 and appear to be trending towards another losing season. The Panthers enter this week with a 9-20 overall record, but have fared well in the Horizon League, sitting in second place with a 7-4 record.

Iowa will be the tenth of 11 games against Power 4 teams for Milwaukee this season. The Panthers went up against South Carolina and Kansas in non-conference weekend series’ this season, combining for an 0-7 record, but lost four of those games by three runs or less. In midweek action Milwaukee has traveled to Minnesota (L 16-4) and Purdue (L 12-8), while they will face Michigan on the road coming up on May 13th.

As a team, the Panthers are batting just .252, which ranks 253rd in the country, while their .367 on-base percentage is only a little better (217th). Despite those numbers, they do have some slugging power, with 55 doubles and 33 home runs on the season. They do strike out quite a bit, with a 23.1% team strikeout rate, including 9.02 strikeouts per game.

On the mound, Milwaukee has an 8.39 team ERA, including giving up 1.18 hits and 0.95 free bases per inning. In nine games against Power 4 opponents, they have allowed 10.8 runs and 11.4 hits per game. Notably, Panthers pitchers have given up 104 extra base hits, which comes out to nearly 37.3% of their hits allowed. They have also given up 46 home runs, allowing 1.59 long balls per game.

Panthers Players to Watch

1. SS Gabe Roessler – The biggest all-around threat in the Milwaukee lineup, shortstop Gabe Roessler has become a much bigger power threat after totaling just ten extra base hits last season. The only player to start all 29 games, Roessler is slashing .291/.390/.547, with 34 hits, six doubles, eight home runs and 24 RBI’s. He has a positive walk/hbp-strikeout ratio and leads the Panthers with 13 stolen bases. Roessler has tallied 13 multi-hit games and has 25 hits over his last 15 games.

2. 3B Tyler Bickers – On a Panthers team that has struggled to hit for average, third baseman Tyler Bickers has had no such issues. The former John Wood CC transfer batted .313 for Milwaukee last season and currently leads the team this season, slashing .333/.432/.387, with 37 hits, three doubles and 16 RBI’s. Although he doesn’t hit for much power (four extra base hits), Bickers gets on base and is second on the team with 20 walks+hit by pitches.

3. OF Charlie Marion – Despite ranking last in the Horizon in batting average, Milwaukee has hit 55 doubles and 33 home runs this season. Madison College transfer outfielder Charlie Marion brings some power to the plate, leading the Panthers in slugging percentage. In 28 starts, Marion is slashing .270/.408/.570, with 27 hits, ten doubles, six home runs and a team-high 27 RBI’s. His 17 extra base hits are fifth-most in the Horizon League, while he has a hit in 12 of his last 13 games, including five multi-hit games during that stretch.

Iowa Hawkeyes (20-10, 12-3)

With UCLA on their Big Ten bye week last week, the Hawkeyes were able to take two out of three from Northwestern and post a 12-3 record that the Bruins will try to match next week. Iowa tied their longest winning streak in conference play since 2007 (10 games) on Saturday, but saw the streak come to an end on Sunday with their 5-4 loss to the Wildcats.

They enter this week at #76 in the RPI, which means there is still work to do to get into NCAAT at-large territory. However, 16 of their final 24 games come against the RPI Top 100, while they also have a three-game series at Washington (RPI 110).

Entering Tuesday’s game, junior infielder Gable Mitchell leads the team in batting average (.365), hits (46) and doubles (12). Redshirt sophomore catcher/designated hitter Reese Moore had a tough weekend at Northwestern, with his average dropping to .350, but he still leads the team with a .469 on-base percentage. Miles Risley had a big week, tallying eight hits in four games, giving the Hawkeyes four players with 35+ hits this season.

Final Thought

Outside of their upcoming game against St Thomas on April 23rd, the Hawkeyes midweek slate is as you would expect. Not great. The Panthers are currently #197 in the RPI, making this a must-win game to avoid a large RPI hit. Similar to the matchup against Bradley last week, Milwaukee isn’t a particularly great hitting, although they can hit for some power, while their pitching staff has really struggled. The Hawkeyes are going to be able to put runs, but the pitching staff has to hold up their end and avoid free bases. They’ve outscored the Panthers 40-9 over their last three meetings, and I expect this to be a similarly comfortable win for Iowa.