The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee baseball team secured a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 16 years, following a dramatic win over Wright State on May 26. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning during the Horizon League championship game, Joey Spence hit a two-run walk-off home run to give UWM a 5-4 victory.
“We were debating whether or not I should bunt … and (assistant coach) Mike Porcaro was like, ‘Hey, I trust you. Go hit,’” Spence told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “If it wasn’t for those guys trusting me to go do what I do, that wouldn’t have happened.”
The Panthers’ win marks their first conference championship since 2010 and sends them to their fifth NCAA Tournament appearance. The team’s previous tournament berths came in 1999, 2001, 2002, and 2010.
On Monday, UWM learned it will travel to Alabama to face Auburn—ranked as the No. 4 overall seed—at noon on Friday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. Early rounds of the tournament are double elimination; UWM is guaranteed at least one more game on Saturday against either Central Florida or North Carolina State. Those games are expected to air on ESPN+ or ESPNU.
Ahead of their departure for Alabama, UWM players and coaches received well wishes from Chancellor Thomas Gibson before being escorted by police to the airport. The team will also be honored by the Milwaukee Brewers at a pregame ceremony Tuesday before their matchup with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Representing UWM are Horizon League All-Conference or All-Tournament selections: pitcher Gavin Theis, outfielder Charlie Marion, catcher Dominic Kibler, outfielder Dylan O’Connell, and catcher Joey Spence—the latter named Most Valuable Player of the Horizon League Tournament.
