The biggest moment in more than a decade happened in dramatic fashion for the UW-Milwaukee baseball team over the weekend.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning of the Horizon League championship game and his team trailing by a run, Joey Spence stepped to the plate and smashed a two-run walk-off home run on Saturday to give UWM a 5-4 victory over Wright State.
“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.”
That lightning bolt delivered UWM its first conference championship since 2010 and sent the team to the NCAA Tournament for a fifth time. Besides 2010, the Panthers made the tournament in 1999, 2001 and 2002.
On Monday, the team learned its destination: The Panthers will travel to Alabama to take on Auburn, the No. 4 overall seed, at noon on Friday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Early rounds of the NCAA Tournament are double elimination, so win or lose, UWM will play at least one more game on Saturday against one of the other two teams in the region, Central Florida and North Carolina State. Those games are likely to be broadcast on either ESPN+ or ESPNU.
In the meantime, the team will be honored by the Milwaukee Brewers at a pregame ceremony Tuesday before the game vs. the St. Louis Cardinals.
Representing the Panthers are Horizon League All-Conference or All-Tournament team members: pitcher Gavin Theis, outfielder Charlie Marion, catcher Dominic Kibler; outfielder Dylan O’Connell and catcher and Horizon League Tournament Most Valuable Player Joey Spence.
UWM Athletics has complete coverage of the title-clinching game and the NCAA Tournament.
