Ryan LaPensée was a four-year baseball letterwinner (2007-10) who is Wayne State's all-time leader in hits (279), runs (195), doubles (50), total bases (386), games (200) and at-bats (696).
He posted a .401 career batting average, which is second in WSU history. LaPensée is the only player in school history to hit above .400 three times in a career. He finished second all-time in RBI (145) and extra-base hits (72), and third in stolen bases (71).
LaPensée was a three-time All-Region selection earning First Team honors in 2010, and Second Team accolades in both 2007 and 2009.
He was four-time All-GLIAC selection, including being voted to the All-GLIAC First Team in both in 2009 and 2010. His 279 career hits rank second in GLIAC history, while his 195 career runs scored are fifth. LaPensée's 71 stolen bases are seventh in league annals with his 50 doubles ranking eighth.
In addition to being voted GLIAC Freshman of the Year in 2007, he was named to the Daktronics All-North Central Region Second Team as well as the All-GLIAC Honorable Mention squad. LaPensée also received a Rawlings/ABCA North Central Region "Golden Glove" award for outstanding defense.
As a sophomore, he was named to the All-GLIAC Honorable Mention Team as well as the league's All-Academic Team. LaPensée made 50 starts in the outfield and finished fourth in the GLIAC with a .409 average. He finished sixth in the conference in both on-base percentage (.480) and hits (70), and seventh in runs batted in (45).
In 2008, he batted .594 (19-32) in the postseason including a .667 clip (14-21) to earn NCAA Regional All-Tournament Team honors. LaPensée helped the Warriors reach the Regional final in just the second trip to the NCAA Tournament in school history. WSU won a then school-record 34 games as well as the GLIAC regular season title with a 23-5 league ledger.
As a junior, LaPensée received GLIAC All-Academic Team accolades and was selected to the Rawlings/ABCA All-Midwest Region Second Team after starting 48 games and batting third.
He hit .362 with 30 RBI and a team-high 47 runs scored. LaPensée tied for the league lead with 26 stolen bases
As a senior, he batted .424 while being the only Warrior to start all 52 games. He led WSU to both the GLIAC regular-season title (with a 23-8 conference record) and the GLIAC Tournament championship.
LaPensée set three Wayne State single-season records (hits, runs, at bats) and finished second in the GLIAC in hits (87), third in batting, runs scored (63), doubles (19) and total bases (131), and fifth in slugging percentage (.639). His batting average was the highest since Bob Inman in 1961 (.474).
An ABCA All-Region First Team selection, LaPensée was also chosen to the Daktronics and NCBWA All-Region Second Teams. He drove in a career-best six runs against Ashland in the GLIAC Tournament championship game, homering twice as WSU came from behind to win 7-6.
A chemistry major, he earned GLIAC All-Academic Team honors all three seasons along with WSU Academic Honor Roll status five different semesters, including three terms above a 3.5 GPA.
LaPensée
played professionally for two seasons (2011 and 2012) with the Arizona Diamondbacks organization.
