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For the fifth time in program history and for the first time since 2010, the Milwaukee Panthers baseball team is dancing into the NCAA Tournament!
The Panthers (25-31) took down the Wright State Raiders (27-28) in the Horizon League Tournament Championship round today from Nischwitz Stadium in Dayton, Ohio after senior catcher Joey Spence hit a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning.
UWM starting pitcher Gavin Theis was magnificent on the mound today, going eight innings, allowing just one run and five hits against a powerful Wright State offense, while striking out six batters.
Wright State took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning after a Zac Butler sacrifice fly.
Milwaukee answered in the bottom of the fifth when Junior Dylan O’Connell doubled down the left field line to give UWM a 2-1 lead. The Panthers added to the lead in the bottom of the sixth when Junior Christian Holmes singled up the middle to go up 3-1.
Taking that 3-1 lead into the top of the ninth, Junior Camden Kuhnke took the mound to close the game out. However, Wright State singled to start the inning, then had runners on first and second base after an error by the UWM defense, then a sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third base with just one out.
Kuhnke then walked Braylen Blomquist to load the bases. Hunter Warren was then hit by a pitch on a full count to score a run, making it a 3-2 Panthers advantage.
The very next batter, Cam Gilkerson singled to left-center to score two runs and give the Raiders a 4-3 lead.
Kuhnke was able to get out of the rest of the inning with no further damage, but the Panthers offense had some work to do now trailing 4-3 going to the bottom of the ninth.
Holmes led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk, which gave way to Joey Spence. It appeared head coach Shaun Wegner was having Spence bunt the first couple of pitches, but with the count at 1-1, Spence swung away and hit the walk-off two-run homer just over the right field fence to give the Panthers a 5-4 win and to cap off a whirlwind of emotions of a ninth inning for the Panthers and their fans!
What a game! What a win! THE PANTHERS ARE GOING DANCING!
This is such a huge win for the UWM baseball program.
UW-Milwaukee has made the NCAA Tournament in 1999, 2001, 2002, 2010 and now 2026. The Panthers have an all-time record of 1-8 (.111) in the NCAA Tournament, defeating Rice in their very first NCAA Tournament game in 1999 and have lost eight straight since.
The 2026 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship Selection Show “Road To Omaha” will air on Monday, May 26th at 11:00 AM (CT), so we’ll find out soon where the Milwaukee Panthers are headed.
The Regionals are May 29-June 1. The Super Regionals are June 5-June 8. The Men’s College World Series begins June 12, with the MCWS Finals series being June 20-June 22.
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