WEEKEND PREVIEW
For its first home games of the 2011 season, the Wayne State University baseball team (13-5, 5-1 GLIAC) will host Tiffin University (5-14, 2-3 GLIAC) in a four-game series Saturday and Sunday in Detroit. Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled for 1:00, while Sunday's will begin at noon.

Off to its best 18-game start in four years, Wayne State split a doubleheader Wednesday at Hillsdale. Tiffin lost a 5-1 decision Wednesday to Ashland, as the second game was postponed due to snow.

Wayne State leads the all-time series against Tiffin, 17-7, dating back to 1988. The Warriors have won 11 of the last 14 meetings with the Dragons since 2008.


AT THE HELM
Ryan Kelley, the 2010 GLIAC Coach of the Year, is in his third season as the head coach of the WSU baseball program. Kelley guided the Warriors to 25 wins in 2009, the most by any first-year head coach in program history. Last season, Wayne State went 32-20 and won the GLIAC regular-season and tournament championships, advancing to the NCAA Regional for the third time since 2005.

Lonny Allen, who also serves as the Athletic Director at Tiffin, is in his 20th year as the head baseball coach. He has 411 career victories.


PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
In the 2011 GLIAC preseason coaches' poll, the Warriors were picked to finish second, while the Chargers were slotted sixth. Tiffin finished the 2010 season with a 21-33 overall record and a 17-18 conference mark, and fell one game shy of a GLIAC Tournament berth.


SCOUTING TIFFIN
Tiffin came into the 2011 season with big shoes to fill after the graduation of outfielders Devin Rudolph, the 2010 GLIAC Player of the Year, and Ty Blake, a Second Team All-GLIAC selection.

The Dragons have a dual threat this season in junior Pat Curtin, who leads the team in batting average (.372) and earned run average (3.63). He is 2-3 on the mound with 21 strikeouts in six starts.

Junior infielder Val Helldobler (.308) leads the squad with 20 hits and 12 RBI, and senior lefty Donnie Smith has a staff-best 26 strikeouts in six appearances.

Tiffin went 3-11 in non-conference play to open the season before splitting a doubleheader last weekend against Ohio Dominican.


WARRIOR NOTEBOOK
Wayne State came into this week leading the conference in both team batting average and earned run average. The Warriors continue to execute well with a .318 average and a 2.22 ERA through Wednesday's games.

WSU comes into Saturday's first game having won five of its last six home openers including three straight.

Brad Guenther hit his first career home run in Wednesday's 9-2 win at Hillsdale. It was the fifth home run hit by a Warrior this season and the first since Chike Springer's grand slam Feb. 26 against Queens. The Warriors hit four home runs in the first two games of the season at the Armstrong Atlantic Invitational, but went without one in the next 15 games until Guenther's blast.

Caleb Dalman has a four-game hitting streak, the longest current streak on the team. His career-long is six games, established last season. He also tied a school record Wednesday, having been hit by a pitch for the 30th time in his career.

Billy Hurley earned his first win of the season and second of his career Wednesday, tossing three scoreless relief innings without allowing a hit. Hurley has not surrendered a run this season (13.0 IP) and has two saves and 12 strikeouts.

Wednesday's first game at Hillsdale, a 2-1 loss, was the sixth time this season WSU has played a one-run game in which the winning side scored three runs or less. The Warriors are 3-3 in those games.


LOOKING AHEAD
Wayne State will head back on the road next weekend, April 9-10, to face Northwood before playing the front half of a home-and-home series at Saginaw Valley State on Wednesday, April 13. The Warriors begin a six-game homestand April 16-17 against Ohio Dominican.