WEEKEND PREVIEW
For the second straight weekend, the second-place Wayne State University baseball team (24-10, 16-6 GLIAC) will battle the third-place squad, as the Warriors travel to Ashland University (21-12, 10-8 GLIAC) to begin a four-game series Friday afternoon.

Wayne State is riding a six-game winning streak, having swept a doubleheader against Hillsdale on Wednesday. Ashland is completing a suspended game from March 30 against Tiffin before beginning a doubleheader with the Dragons this afternoon. The Eagles have won six of their last seven, taking three out of four from Saginaw Valley State last weekend.

A great rivalry has evolved between the Warriors and Eagles over the last few years, as the two teams have met in the playoffs each of the last three seasons. Wayne State defeated Ashland twice in the 2010 GLIAC Tournament on its way to a conference title.


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 and has a career record of 81-56. 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.

John Schaly is in his 14th season at Ashland and has a career record of 517-230.


REGIONAL RANKINGS
This weekend's series is important not only from a conference standpoint, but regionally as well. In the NCAA Division II regional rankings released Wedneday, the Eagles are third in the Midwest region while the Warriors are slotted sixth. The top six teams at the end of the season will play in the NCAA Midwest Regional, for which both WSU and Ashland qualified in 2010.


SCOUTING ASHLAND
The Eagles won nine of their last 11 games coming into Thursday's games with Tiffin, and are in third place with three weeks remaining until the GLIAC Tournament.

Ashland's pitching staff had the third-lowest ERA (3.42) in the conference entering this week. The ace of the staff is senior Ajay Meyer, who missed all of 2010 with an injury but is 7-1 with 70 strikeouts and the nation's second-best ERA this season (0.84).

Senior second baseman Matt McAllester leads the Eagles with a .371 batting average this year, while senior outfielder Evan Melendez is hitting at a .321 clip with 10 extra base hits and team-bests in RBI (21) and runs scored (27).


WARRIOR NOTEBOOK
After averaging just 2.5 runs per game over a six-game span at Northwood and Saginaw Valley State, the Warriors have averaged over 12 runs per game in the last six games against Ohio Dominican and Hillsdale.

Junior center fielder Kyle Vesey has a seven-game hitting streak, one shy of his career-long and the longest active streak on the team. He is 10-for-23 with nine RBI and eight runs scored during that stretch.

Sophomore Brad Guenther (11-18, 11 RBI, 11 runs) and junior Ryan Buter (9-21, 11 RBI, eight runs) are each riding six-game hitting streaks.

Junior right-hander Billy Hurley picked up two saves Wednesday against the Chargers, his fourth and fifth of the season. He moved into the top 10 all-time at WSU in saves.

Senior catcher Michael Wiseman, who homered in his third straight game and doubled in Wednesday's opener, matched the career totals of two WSU Hall of Famers in those categories. Wiseman tied John Miele (1996-99) for third place all-time at WSU in doubles (44) and Mark Limback (1979-82) for fourth place in home runs (23). He also surpassed Ryan LaPensee (2007-10) for second place in extra-base hits (73).


LOOKING AHEAD
Wayne State will return home next weekend for a four-game series against the third-ranked Grand Valley State Lakers. Saturday, April 30 is “W” Day as the baseball program welcomes back its alumni, and Sunday, May 1 will be Senior Day. The WSU Police Department picnic, originally scheduled for this past Wednesday's doubleheader with Hillsdale, has been moved to Wednesday, May 4, as WSU faces Saginaw Valley State in the 2011 home finale.


SAVE THE DATES
The Wayne State baseball program is proud to present the annual Dugout Club Golf Outing and Alumni Game on Sept. 24-25. The golf outing will be held at Northville Hills on the morning of Sept. 24, with a gathering to follow in the evening at the Detroit Renaissance Marriott. The alumni baseball game is scheduled for Sept. 25 at the WSU baseball field.

More information will be announced at wsuathletics.com as it becomes finalized.