Jake Kraus played baseball for the Milwaukee Panthers in the early 1990's and set the bar for many of the program's career records. He batted .350 in 185 games overall, driving in 127 runs and hitting 26 home runs. His home run total still stands fourth all-time, while his 99 career walks remain tied at the top of the charts. He went on to bat .336 in four seasons in the Milwaukee Brewers farm system.
Kraus led the team with a .374 batting average as a sophomore, earning Second-Team All-Midwestern Collegiate Conference honors after slugging .660 and driving in 37 runs, recording 17 doubles and seven home runs.
The next season he again led the way at the plate for the Panthers with a .357 average, repeating as a second-team all-league member with a .636 slugging percentage, 46 runs scored, 32 RBI and nine home runs.
As a senior, Kraus batted .364 and earned First-Team MCC status after a career-best 10 home runs and 48 runs batted in. He added a .702 slugging percentage and 15 doubles.
A member of the Milwaukee Baseball 20th-Anniversary Team, Kraus graduated with program career records in average (.350), games (180), hits (178), runs (137), RBI (127), home runs (26), doubles (43), triples (8), total bases (315) and walks (99). He also set single-season records for hits, runs, doubles, slugging percentage and walks.