GAME NOTES IN PDF FORMAT

The Wayne State University baseball team will begin the 2012 season at the Armstrong Atlantic Savannah Invitational, with four games scheduled over three days beginning Sunday afternoon.

Opening the season in Savannah for the second straight year, the Warriors will face three opponents which they have never faced before, including Wayne State (Neb.) College on Sunday.  The last Wayne State vs. Wayne State matchup in any sport was a men's basketball contest at the Matthaei on Nov. 25, 1998 (a 78-65 Tartar victory).

WSU will also face Le Moyne and Urbana before heading farther south to Florida for 10 games March 8-16.


AT THE HELM
Ryan Kelley, the 2010 GLIAC Coach of the Year, enters his 10th season overall at WSU and fourth as the head baseball coach in 2012.  The Warriors set a school record for wins (35) and advanced to the championship game of the NCAA Midwest Regional for the second time in program history last season.  His 2010 squad won 32 games and earned the GLIAC regular-season and tournament championships, while in 2009 he set a program record for wins by a first-year head coach.

WSC's Brian Disch is in his third year as head baseball coach at his alma mater after previously serving five years as the Wildcats' hitting coach.  He has a career record of 54-42.

Scott Cassidy is in his second season as Le Moyne's head coach.  Cassidy, who led the Dolphins to a 23-30 record in 2011, played professionally for a decade including parts of three seasons at the major league level.

Mike Goldschmidt has an 87-90-1 record in five years as the head coach at Urbana.  Goldschmidt, who helped guide the Blue Knights through their transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II in 2009, has a 10-year collegiate career record of 276-182-1.


IN THE POLLS
Wayne State University was picked to finish second in the 2012 GLIAC preseason coaches' poll.  The Warriors were also ranked nationally in the first three polls released by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, and have received votes in each of the last two.

WSC was tabbed for fourth in the Northern Sun Conference preseason poll.  The Wildcats also received a vote in this week's CBN Division II national poll.

Le Moyne, ranked 10th nationally by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper in the Feb. 27 poll, was picked to finish second in the Northeast-10 Conference Southwest Division.

Urbana competes as an independent team at the Division II level.


THE 2012 WARRIORS
WSU has 24 letterwinners returning from one of its most successful campaigns in program history.  The 2011 NCAA Midwest Regional runner-up, Wayne State has qualified for the postseason seven times in the last eight years and will look to return again in 2012.

Among the 15 seniors on the squad is right-hander Josh Wedesky (Fowlerville, Mich.), an All-GLIAC Second Team selection who tied the school record with 10 victories, second-most in the conference, last season.  Centerfielder Kyle Vesey (Brighton, Mich.), the fourth-leading hitter on the team a year ago (.315, 52 H, 33 R), had a career-high 33 RBI and led the team with 13 stolen bases.  Second baseman Andrew Ciennik (Waterford, Mich./Mott), one of two Warriors to play in all 56 games in 2011, is a two-time All-GLIAC selection and a 2010 All-Region honoree.

This trio received Preseason All-Midwest Region honors from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association last month.


SCOUTING WAYNE STATE (NEB.)
The Wildcats went 26-19 last year including an 18-10 record in the Northern Sun Conference.  WSC swept a doubleheader against Augustana last Sunday to start the 2012 campaign, and will face Flagler College in Savannah prior to the Wayne State-Wayne State showdown on Sunday.

Senior outfielder Mike Bisenius was an All-American last season and attained Preseason All-America status in 2012.  He hit .41 with eight home runs, 48 RBI and 47 runs scored as a junior, and was subsequently drafted in the 48th round by the Washington Nationals.

Senior Pat Burkhart, an NCBWA Preseason Second Team All-Central Region selection, hit .363 last year with 13 stolen bases and 39 runs scored.


SCOUTING LE MOYNE
Having just reclassified its program to Division II, Le Moyne began 2012 with a two-game sweep at sixth-ranked Mount Olive, a national semifinalist last year, on Feb. 18.  The 10th-ranked Dolphins come into this week with a 4-1 record, which also includes wins over Glenville State and Davis & Elkins.

Leading an offense which is averaging 11.8 runs per game is senior outfielder Brett Botsford, a Tino Martinez Award Watch List candidate.  He is hitting .400 with six runs and eight walks over the first five games.

Junior Derek Zielinski is off to a 2-0 start on the mound with a 2.77 ERA and 23 strikeouts.


SCOUTING URBANA
The Blue Knights finished the 2011 season with a 14-26 record, and had their first seven games of 2012 called due to rain and cold before splitting a doubleheader with Miami-Hamilton last Sunday.  Urbana also swept a twinbill against Ohio Christian on Wednesday.

Drew Ryan, who started 40 games for UU at first base, was named the NCAA Division II Independent Freshman of the Year last season.  He led the Blue Knights in most offensive categories, including batting average (.326), hits (42) and runs (29).


WARRIORS PICKED SECOND IN GLIAC
WSU collected 68 points in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference preseason coaches' poll, finishing second to defending conference champion Grand Valley State (80).  Ashland finished third in the poll (65) followed by Saginaw Valley State (56).

The slotting of the top four teams in the poll reflects their respective finishes in the conference in 2011.


2012 TEAM CAPTAINS
Three seniors will serve as team captains for the 2012 season.  Outfielder/DH Phil Swanson (Rochester Hills, Mich./Stoney Creek), in his second year as a co-captain, will be joined in that role by utility player J.J. Ciennik (Waterford, Mich./Mott) and relief pitcher Billy Hurley (Mississauga, Ont./St. Aloysius Gonzaga).

A .296 career hitter, Swanson has played in 102 games for Wayne State. He is a three-time GLIAC All-Academic selection and a former Dean's Award winner for the College of Engineering.

Ciennik battled through Hodgkin's Lymphoma to return to the field in 2011. He played in 29 games including eight postseason appearances, and was named to the GLIAC All-Academic Team.

Hurley earned All-GLIAC and All-Region honors after finishing 2011 with a 4-0 record, a 1.30 ERA and eight saves. He was also a GLIAC All-Academic honoree.

Last year, in addition to its success on the field, Wayne State had 19 players receive GLIAC All-Academic honors and accumulated over 1,200 hours of community service.


LOOKING AHEAD
The Warriors will meet Rollins College on March 8 and 15 in Winter Park, and will spend the remainder of their Spring Break at the RussMatt Invitational in Winter Haven.  On the schedule are Rockhurst, Minnesota-Duluth, Indianapolis, Winona State and Mount Vernon Nazarene.

Conference play will start March 24, as Wayne State will host 12 of its first 16 GLIAC contests beginning with a four-game series March 24-25 against Findlay.

Other key home weekends include April 6-7 vs. Northwood, April 21-22 against Ashland and May 5-6 vs. Lake Erie to end the regular season.  Wayne State will play home-and-home series with Hillsdale and Saginaw Valley State.

The GLIAC Tournament is scheduled for May 10-12 at V.A. Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio.