Hall of Fame
Brad Guenther was a four-year baseball letterwinner (2010-13), who was a semifinalist for the Tino Martinez Award, which is presented each year to the most outstanding player in NCAA Division II baseball.
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Guenther finished his career as the all-time walks leader at WSU with 104. He was first in sacrifice bunts (30), second in runs scored (155), fifth in at-bats (593), tied-for-fifth in both games played (193) and fielding percentage (.986), eighth in hits (189), ninth in stolen bases (32), tied-for-ninth in doubles (34), 10th in both games started (174) and fielding putouts (575), and tied-for-10th in hit-by-pitches (17).
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He had a .432 career on-base percentage with more walks than strikeouts (71). Guenther totaled 99 RBI and 46 extra-base hits for a .430 slugging percentage. He registered 54 multiple-hit games and a .319 career batting average despite setting the school record for most times reached on an error (27).
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In 2013, Guenther was voted GLIAC Player of the Year and First Team All-GLIAC. In addition, he earned First Team All-Midwest Region honors from the NCBWA and Second Team recognition from ABCA/Rawlings.Â
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Guenther was selected as the Team MVP after starting all 50 games (the only player to do so), including 40 behind the plate. He led the squad in nearly every offensive category: average (.361), slugging (.574), on-base (.488), hits (61), runs scored (46), RBI (41), doubles (14), triples (2), home runs (6), total bases (97), walks (36, which led the GLIAC) and stolen bases (13). Defensively, he threw out 10 base stealers and picked off another two runners.
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In his junior season, Guenther earned Second Team All-GLIAC recognition as well as WSU's Best Defensive Player Award after starting 54 of the 55 games, including 44 as a catcher. He led the team with 13 stolen bases and 10 sacrifice bunts, and finished second in the GLIAC with 15 runners caught stealing.
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As a sophomore, he started 49 of the 53 games played and finished second on the team with 40 runs scored. He had 12 multiple-hit games and eight multiple-RBI contests, including hitting a walk-off bases-clearing double in the 12th inning of a GLIAC Tournament first-round game against Ashland.Â
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During his Warrior career, Guenther helped WSU to four consecutive 30-win seasons (133-80 overall record), one GLIAC regular-season title (2010), one GLIAC Tournament title (2010), and three trips to the NCAA Tournament. Wayne State had a 10-6 GLIAC Tournament mark in his four seasons, and won three NCAA Tournament contests.
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Following his collegiate career, Guenther played one season professionally in the Los Angeles Angels organization.
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A native of Ann Arbor, Guenther earned his degree in Elementary Education.
