No. 4 seed Milwaukee finished the regular season with a 25-31 record and defeated Horizon League regular season champ Wright State in the conference tournament to earn the automatic bid.
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY: Milwaukee will be making its fifth trip to the NCAA Championship, and first since the 2010 season. The program also qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 1999, 2001, and 2002.
AUBURN REGIONAL HISTORY: The Panthers have not played Auburn, UCF, or NC State in its program's history.
Auburn will be the second SEC opponent that Milwaukee will face this season after opening the year at LSU in February.
The Panthers did not face a Big 12 opponent during the regular season, but did take on Duke of the ACC in late February, losing three of four games.
TEAM STAT TO TRACK: Milwaukee will run, once on the bases. The team recorded 122 stolen bases this year, ranking in the Top 30 nationally and the most in program history.
STAR TO WATCH: OF Dylan O’Connell, a first-team All-Horizon League pick, finished the 2026 regular season as one of the top-five base stealers in all of Division I, ending the regular campaign with 40 steals in 43 attempts and setting a new Milwaukee single-season record.
In addition to his base-stealing ability, O'Connell hit a team-high .344 with 64 hits, including 15 doubles, a triple, and eight home runs.
The three-hole hitter, O'Connell scored a team-high 56 runs while driving in 39. He led the Panthers with 33 runs scored in 24 conference games while hitting .344 with 32 hits in 94 at bats.
BEST ARM: Camden Kuhnke was named the Horizon League Reliever of the Year, finishing the regular season as the league leader in saves with five.
He posted a 3.10 ERA over 22 appearances out of the bullpen and struck out 29 batters over as many innings.
In league games, the right-hander stuck out 16 batters over 17 1/3 innings and pitched to a 3.12 ERA with a 2-1 record.
FRIDAY’S GO-TO GUY: The most reliable starting arm has been Gavin Theis, a two-time first-team All-Horizon League pick and the Horizon League Pitcher of the Year in 2025.
Theis finished the regular season with a 2-3 record and was at his best in the Horion League title game, throwing a season-high eight innings and allowed one unearned run while striking out six.
WILDCARD: Outfielder Dominic Kibler emerged in conference play, posting a .386 batting average and 1.226 OPS, both team-highs, as he also totaled six home runs, 28 RBIs in 24 games, and eight doubles.
