AP Sports Preview

NOTRE DAME, Ind. (Interstat) — The Milwaukee Panthers and Notre Dame Fighting Irish meet Wednesday afternoon and evening at Frank Eck Stadium in a nonconference college baseball doubleheader.

First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Forecast calling for 51 degrees and cloudy.

Milwaukee (15-26) has lost two straight, falling 10-8 at Northwestern on Tuesday despite a monster game from right fielder Charlie Marion. He went 4 for 5 with two home runs and five RBIs. Marion is 11 for 29 over his last seven games with two homers and 11 RBIs, though he has been inconsistent — he was 0 for 4 in a 13-2 loss to Wright State on April 26, then went 1 for 4 in a 4-0 win the following day.

The Panthers have won six of their last nine overall, with three of those wins coming against Northern Kentucky. Milwaukee’s rotation has struggled with consistency; Tristan Arnold threw 2.1 scoreless innings Tuesday, while Sotaro Ishida surrendered four earned runs over 4.2 frames.

Notre Dame (20-20) also won Tuesday, beating Central Michigan 5-3 behind a stellar relief outing from right-hander Ty Uber. He threw 3.1 scoreless innings, allowing zero hits and striking out five. Uber has been dominant in two of his last three appearances — he also threw 3.1 scoreless innings against North Carolina State on April 4 — but was hit hard in consecutive outings against Virginia on April 10 and 12, allowing eight earned runs over 2.1 combined innings.

The Fighting Irish have split their last 10 games, alternating wins and losses over the past six contests. They took two of three from Boston College — winning 12-2 in a seven-inning game on April 24 — but were blown out 16-1 in eight innings the following day.

Wednesday’s matchup offers a clash of divergent projections. Interstat’s game simulator favors Milwaukee 8-4, while the same outlet’s ELO system gives Notre Dame an 86.9 percent win probability.

After this doubleheader, both teams face demanding schedules. Milwaukee heads west for a three-game series at UNLV starting May 1. Notre Dame hosts Stanford for a three-game set beginning Friday, May 1, followed by a midweek game against Dayton and a key road series at Pittsburgh.

First pitch for Game 1 is set for 1 p.m. EDT.