WEEKEND PREVIEW
The Wayne State University baseball team (27-16, 19-12 GLIAC) will wrap up the 2011 regular season this weekend with a four game series against Lake Erie College (20-23, 13-17 GLIAC) at Classic Park in Eastlake, Ohio, the home of the Midwest League's Lake County Captains.

Playoff implications exist for both teams in this series, as Wayne State is in second place but has yet to clinch a berth in the GLIAC Tournament. Lake Erie is 1.5 games behind Saginaw Valley State for the fourth and final playoff spot.

After being swept in four games against Grand Valley State last weekend, the Warriors split a doubleheader with the Cardinals on Wednesday, winning the second game in walkoff fashion in the eighth inning. The Storm comes in having lost five of six including a pair at Ohio Dominican on Thursday.

These two teams have never met prior to this weekend, as Lake Erie is new to the GLIAC and Division II this season.


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 84-62. 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.

Brian McGee is in his fourth season at Lake Erie with a career record of 71-114.


IN THE POLLS
Wayne State was ranked fifth in the most recent NCAA Midwest Regional poll released Wednesday. The top six teams at the end of the season will play in the NCAA Midwest Regional tournament, with the winner of the GLIAC Tournament receiving an automatic bid.


SCOUTING LAKE ERIE
The Storm, predicted to finish last in the GLIAC preseason poll back in March, have won a school-record 20 games and are in sixth place overall in the conference. Key victories along the way include a four-game sweep over Tiffin last month and taking three out of four from Ashland in a home-and-home series.

Senior outfielder Brandon James, the conference leader in batting average (.429), has a seven-game hitting streak. James and junior shortstop Ryan Rua lead a potent Lake Erie offense with 63 hits apiece this season. Rua has 22 extra-base hits including five home runs.

While the Storm came into this week with the league's second-highest team batting average, the pitching staff has the fourth-highest earned run average. Sophomore Logan Nordquist and redshirt sophomore Adam Beach have three wins each and a combined 65 strikeouts, but together have a 5.90 ERA.


WARRIOR NOTEBOOK
Wayne State snapped a five-game losing skid, its longest since last March, with Wednesday's 3-2 eight-inning victory. #J.J. Ciennik drove in Michael Wiseman# for the game-winning run with two outs, allowing the Warriors to avoid the season sweep in the home-and-home series with the Cardinals.

Caleb Dalman had a hit in each contest against SVSU, extending his hitting streak to six games. He is 9-for-15 (.600) with five walks in that six-game stretch, raising his season average from .265 to .316.

Brad Guenther recorded his 11th sacrifice bunt of the season in Wednesday's opener, third-most in program history and the most since Dan Fairchild had 13 in 2001.

Despite taking the loss in Wednesday's first game, Alex Pierse went the distance – his second complete game of the year – and totaled seven strikeouts with no walks. Pierse allowed three runs in the third inning, but allowed just three hits the rest of the game.

Cameron Walker made his first start of the year at third base in game two Wednesday. He has started at least one game in seven different positions (including DH) this season.


TEAM BANQUET THIS MONDAY
The Wayne State University baseball team will hold its annual season-end awards recognition banquet on Monday, May 9 at 6:00 p.m. The event will be held at the Matthaei Center on the Wayne State athletic campus.

The cost for the banquet, which will include a buffet dinner, is $20 per guest. To RSVP, please contact the baseball office at (313) 577-2749 or e-mail baseball alum John Skaggs at aw5485@wayne.edu.

For those unable to attend but interested in sponsoring a WSU Baseball student-athlete, donations of $20 are being accepted. Contact baseball alum and development director Matt Cunningham at (313) 577-0587 or mc10@wayne.edu.


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.