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TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
Having qualified for the GLIAC Tournament for the seventh time in eight years, the Wayne State University baseball team (30-17, 22-13 GLIAC) will face Ashland University (30-19, 19-15 GLIAC) in the first round Thursday at 7:00 p.m., at V.A. Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio.

The Warriors and Eagles are familiar playoff foes, as they have met in the postseason, either at the conference or regional tournament, every year since 2008. Wayne State defeated Ashland twice in 2010 en route to its first GLIAC Tournament Championship in program history.

Both teams won their final series of the regular season last weekend, as Wayne State took three out of four at Lake Erie while Ashland did the same against Hillsdale. WSU and Ashland met three times in April, with the Warriors winning twice.

The same four teams which made the GLIAC Tournament in 2010 are in again this year. Grand Valley State and Saginaw Valley State will meet in the other first-round game at 3:00 on Thursday. The winners of Thursday's games will play at 12:00 on Friday, while the losers will meet at 3:00.

All Wayne State games in the GLIAC Tournament will be broadcast via streaming audio on Warrior All-Access, with Tom Gorman and Jeff Evans on the call.


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 87-63. 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 with a record of 526-237. His head coaching career also includes stints at St. Leo (1992-97) and Berry (1988-91). He earned his 900th career victory April 15 at SVSU.


IN THE POLLS
Wayne State is ranked sixth in the latest NCAA Midwest Region poll released Wednesday afternoon. Grand Valley State is at the top while Ashland is ranked seventh. The top six teams in the region will move on to the NCAA Midwest Regional tournament next week, with the winner of the GLIAC Tournament receiving an automatic bid.


SCOUTING ASHLAND
Two home losses to the Warriors on April 23 started a five-game skid for the Eagles, who rebounded to win five of their last seven games and secure the No. 3 seed in the GLIAC Tournament.

Much of Ashland's success this season can be attributed to a pitching staff which holds the second-lowest ERA in the conference (3.18). The Eagles have three of the top starters in the GLIAC in senior Ajay Meyer (9-3, 1.47 ERA, 94 K), and juniors Aaron Hilt (5-4, 1.58 ERA, 43 K) and Eric Vaughan (5-3, 3.45 ERA, 32 K).

Meyer, who tossed a one-hit shutout Saturday against Hillsdale, is among the top 20 pitchers in Division II in wins and strikeouts. Among Hilt's five wins was a one-hit shutout April 22 against Wayne State.

Leading the Eagles offensively is senior second baseman Matt McAllester, who is 10th in the GLIAC with a .369 batting average. He ranks fourth in the conference in hits (58).


WARRIOR NOTEBOOK
Wayne State reached the 30-win plateau for the fifth time in school history and the third time in the last four years. With 22 conference victories, the Warriors finished just one win shy of last year's mark.

Junior relief pitcher Billy Hurley is one of 46 semifinalists (and one of six from the Midwest Region) for the Tino Martinez Award, an honor presented by College Baseball Lineup to the most outstanding player in Division II. Hurley is 3-0 with seven saves, second-most in the GLIAC, and a conference-best 0.32 ERA this season. He has allowed just one earned run in 15 relief appearances (28 innings) and is limiting hitters to a .179 average. Hurley also has a 3.25 strikeout/walk ratio.

Michael Wiseman, already Wayne State's all-time leader in RBI (175), set two more career records last weekend in games played (202) and fielding chances (1260). The senior catcher went 6-for-17 last week against SVSU and Lake Erie and continued to play error-free defense behind the plate.

Senior right-hander Brett Shankin posted his 13th career complete game in Saturday's second game at Lake Erie. Shankin struck out eight, walked none, and allowed just six hits to improve to 7-2 on the year.

Shankin was one of three WSU starters to go the distance last weekend, along with Josh Wedesky and Tyler Loehr. Alex Pierse went six innings and earned his fifth win of the year in the series finale, with Hurley picking up the save.

In a vote by the College Sports Information Directors of America, Caleb Dalman was named to the Capital One Academic All-District IV College Division First Team, and will be on the ballot for Academic All-America voting. Wiseman and Andrew Ciennik were both selected to the Second Team, per an announcement from CoSIDA last week.


TEAM AWARDS
Kelley and his staff held the 2011 Senior Recognition and Awards Banquet on Monday night at the Matthaei. Wiseman took home three of the program's top awards, including the Most Valuable Player award in a vote by his teammates. He was also named Top Hitter and Best Defensive Player.

Shankin was named Top Pitcher, Wedesky and Hurley shared Most Improved Player honors, Dalman was presented with the Warrior Award and Pierse received the Weight Room Warrior award.

The five-member senior class – Dalman, Loehr, Matt Rustulka, Shankin and Wiseman – addressed the crowd of nearly 100 guests.


ALUMNI WEEKEND
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.