The situation merited a bunt. The choice was to swing away.
And what a swing it ended up being, as Joey Spence delivered a two-run, walk-off home run to lift the UW-Milwaukee Panthers over the host Wright State Raiders, 5-4, in the championship game of the Horizon League Tournament and into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2010.
Second-seeded UWM (25-31) was leading, 3-1, heading into the ninth when top-seeded Wright State (27-28) scored three times to leave the Panthers three outs away from another bitterly disappointing end to the season at the hands of their rival.
But Christian Holmes drew a leadoff walk and Spence, the Panthers’ No. 9 hitter, followed by homering to right off Raiders closer Malachi Paplanus.
“Christian Holmes worked a good walk, had a great at-bat, and I was going to take until I got a strike,” recounted Spence, a West Bend East product who played his first three seasons at Notre Dame and then last year at Texas A&M-Texarkana before transferring to UWM.
Spence, catching in this game, was a .223 hitter with three homers and 31 runs batted in over 45 games prior to his big swing.
“We were debating whether or not I should bunt him over and (assistant coach) Mike Porcaro was like, ‘Hey, I trust you. Go hit.’ If it wasn’t for those guys trusting me to go do what I do, that wouldn’t have happened,” continued Spence, who was named tournament MVP for his exploits. “I really owe it to the coaching staff and the guys around me.”
Spence’s homer sparked a giant celebration and dogpile at home plate after he rounded the bases.
“We were never out of the fight,” said UWM coach Shaun Wegner. “We always played to the last strike and the last out, and that’s what I’m really proud of with these guys. This game easily could have just folded in the bottom of the ninth after we got our hearts ripped out, but we just stayed at it and we took the walk instead of trying to do too much.
“Then, we fake a bunt, they throw a strike and we let Joey swing.”
Making Spence’s homer even more improbable was the fact he hit the catcher’s mitt on his swing, according to Wegner.
“He hit the catcher’s mitt. I was pointing at it,” he said. “The umpire caught it and then I’m like, ‘Oh, never mind. We’ll just take the (homer).'”
The victory was particularly sweet for the Panthers, who found themselves in the exact same situation last year but failed in two tries to beat the Raiders – a bitter pill to swallow that served as a source of motivation this season.
“This game, this day is something that has been on our minds since Day 1 of the fall,” said Spence. “One of our very first team meetings and practices was Coach Wegner was pulling up a picture of Wright State dogpiling on their mound, and that’s kind of been ingrained on our minds the entire year.
“We were able to come here and take care of business and that’s something we’ve been working for the entire season.”
Gavin Theis, a right-hander from Lake Country Lutheran who was the Horizon League’s pitcher of the year in 2025, delivered one of the best starts of his career as he scattered five hits, an unearned run and two walks while striking out six over eight innings to set the stage for the dramatic ninth.
Theis endured a late start to his season due to an administrative error that affected his eligibility and then pitched through pain, finishing with a 4.91 ERA over 13 starts.
“It starts with Gavin Theis on the mound,” said Spence. “He’s been through so much adversity this year and he was able to just go out and do what he does best and hold the team to (one run). He just pitched amazing, and our coaching staff did a really good job of putting together a game plan for him and for us.”
UWM endured an eight-game losing streak bridging late February and early March but then ran off eight straight wins last month and has now won six in a row heading into the NCAAs. The Panthers twice rallied from eight-run deficits to win games over the course of the season.
“I always had belief in these guys,” said Wegner. “We had a little bit of a rough fall, quite honestly, and we had to become a better team. Not even a baseball team, but just better with our chemistry and find each other and play for each other.
“We had to do some soul searching, and once we did that you started to see a little bit of a change. I always believed we were good on the field baseball-wise if we put it all together, but (the chemistry) was kind of the missing link and that’s kind of what we saw.”
Added Spence: “We’ve been through so much this season and became closer and closer as a team and really just built a love for each other, and that’s what’s been getting us through this last month and that’s what we’re going to continue to carry into the regional.”
In a full-circle moment, Wegner, a Watertown native, was the starting catcher on the Panthers’ 2010 team that finished 33-26 and lost to host Arizona State and then San Diego in the NCAA Tournament.
“I was a part of the last team here in 2010 to go to the regional, and it definitely felt a little different having lived that experience,” Wegner, in his third season as head coach, said. “But I’m just so happy and proud of these guys. They honestly deserve it. They’ve done a lot of work.”
This will be UWM’s fifth NCAA Tournament appearance, with the Panthers also reaching it in 1999, 2001 and 2002. The field will be announced at 11 a.m. Monday.
“We’ve always believed that we can get this thing there, and now it’s just a matter of how do we keep it here and become a stable, steady force on top of the league?” said Wegner. “So, that’s the next challenge for us as a coaching staff and what we have to try to figure out.
“I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention my mentors and the guys that gave me a chance. Jerry Augustine and Scott Doffek built it from the ground up and I was just fortunate enough to be given the reins by Amanda Braun to try to carry on their legacy and what they’ve built, and I think we’re headed in the right direction.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: West Bend East alum Joey Spence’s homer lifts UWM into NCAA Tournament