Janesvilles Ryan Lemm had a front-row seat for UW-Milwaukees unexpected run into the NCAA Division I baseball regionals, which included an opening game upset against fourth-ranked Auburn this past week.
But Lemm, a 2025 Janesville Craig High School graduate and a freshman catcher/outfielder on the Panthers, would have preferred to have been on the field with his teammates.
Lemm likely would have been in the batting order as a designated hitter as the Panthers made their run from a 5-22 start to get within a win of moving to this weekends Super Regional round with a shot of making it to the College World Series in Omaha.
Lemm, who hit .470 his senior season at Craig, began the year as the Panthers designated hitter in three of the teams first five games and made pinch-hit appearances in the two other games.
The first three games were against perennial NCAA power LSU and the next two were against Duke University. In 11 at-bats, Lemm had four singles for a .364 average with four runs scored and four RBI.
After that promising start, Lemms season ended in the Panthers eighth game.
In the nightcap of a doubleheader against Duke on Feb. 22, Lemm singled with two out in the top of the seventh. The next Panther hitter grounded to the shortstop.
I was sliding into second, Lemm said in a phone interview Wednesday. I jammed my right foot into second base.
The impact resulted in a hairline fracture and several sprains in the ankle. The injuries ended his season, which will not count toward his eligibility.
Im pretty close to playing again, Lemm said Wednesday, nearly 3 翻 months after the incident. Im back into jumping and sprinting.
Summer plans
Lemm plans on joining the West Allis Nationals in the Wisconsin State League in three weeks. The WSL features current and former college players and other players who played minor league ball. The Addison (Illinois) Braves, Green Bay Blue Ribbons, Kenosha Kings, Lombard (Illinois) Orioles, Sheboygan As, and the Nationals play in the WSL.
League plays ends with a tournament in Oshkosh on Aug. 1-2.
Lemm played with the Nationals last summer.
I had a lot of fun, Lemm said.
Lemm will live at home and work out in Janesville during the summer as he prepares for his redshirt freshman season in the fall.
I thought I was playing really well, the son of Holly Auten said of his shortened freshman season. I was doing my best right before I got hurt.
What a finish
The Panthers got off to a miserable start. They lost six of eight games to LSU and Duke and the losing continued into Horizon League play.
Entering an April 4th Horizon League game against Youngstown State, the Panthers were 6-23 overall and 3-6 in the league.
Shaun Wegner is the Panthers head baseball coach. Wegner played at UW-Milwaukee and spent six seasons as an assistant coach on the UW-Whitewater baseball staff under Warhawks head coach John Vodenlich.
Wegner left Whitewater to join the Panthers staff in 2017 and became the head coach in the summer of 2023.
At 6-23 after being swept in a home doubleheader against lightly-regarded Youngstown State at home April 3, Wegner basically threw up his hands and told the Panthers to just go out and play.
Our coach said we just have nothing to lose here, Lemm said. Just go out there and have fun.
Everyone just got hot, Lemm said.
The Panthers won the series finale against Youngstown State. They won two out of three games at Oakland (Mich.) University, which led to a seven-game winning streak.
Once we found out that we could win by just playing loose, it just clicked for everyone, Lemm said. In the fall, we all knew we were that good. It just didnt click right away.
They finished the regular season with a 22-31 record and were third in the Horizon League with a 14-10 record. They were the No. 2 seed in the Horizon League Tournament, with the tournament champion earning the leagues automatic NCAA Tournament berth.
The Panthers beat No. 3-seed Northern Kentucky 14-2 in the double-elimination tournament opener to move into the finals against No. 1-seed Wright State on the Raiders home field in Dayton, Ohio.
Milwaukee won the opener 4-1 and earned its tournament bid with a 5-4 win in the second game.
The momentum continued into the NCAA Tournament. The Panthers had to play top-seeded Auburn, which was ranked 4th in the nation, on the Tigers home field in Alabama.
The Panthers shocked the Tigers and their fans by scoring the first 10 runs in a 13-8 victory.
Milwaukee ran its winning streak to nine games by beating the University of Central Florida 13-6 in the second round to move into the championship finals.
The Panthers faced Auburn again. Milwaukee needed to beat Auburn once in two games to advance to this weekends Super Regional, but their bats went silent.
Before 6,020 fans in the first game Sunday and 8,200 raucous fans in the winner-take-all second game Monday, the Tigers prevailed by scores of 8-1 and 8-3. The Panthers finished the season 27-33 and won 21 of their final 31 games.
The Panthers lose six seniors. Lemm wants to be one of the main contributors after having to watch the teams final 52 games this season from the bench.
I believe in myself, Lemm said. I think I can be one of the best players on our team next year. Im not saying that in a cocky way, but I know I will be better than I was this year.