GAME NOTES IN PDF FORMAT

GAME STORYLINES
The Wayne State University baseball team begins its second week of games down south Tuesday against the University of Indianapolis.  With the exception of a return to Rollins College on Thursday, the Warriors will play the remainder of their Spring Break games at the RussMatt Invitational in Winter Haven, Fla.

Wayne State will meet Winona State University, last year's national championship runner-up, on Wednesday, and Mount Vernon Nazarene University on Friday before beginning the trek back to Detroit.

WSU's conference and home opening series is March 24-25 against Findlay.


AT THE HELM
Ryan Kelley is in 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.  Kelley's career record stands at 98-69.

Gary Vaught, who coached at Oral Roberts and Kansas State before arriving at Indianapolis, is in his 18th season at the helm of UIndy's program.  His record with the Greyhounds is 578-399-2, part of an overall 745-523-2 mark.

After nine seasons as an assistant coach at Winona State, Kyle Poock took over the program in 2002.  His record stands at 270-182-1.

Dr. Jon Sjogren has a 194-156-1 record in his seventh season at Rollins.  Sjogren led the Tars to 41 wins and a berth in the NCAA South Regional in 2010.  His career record, which includes 15 years at his alma mater Bryant, is 553-461-3.

In 22 years at MVNU, head coach Keith Veale has led the Cougars to an overall record of 714-357.


IN THE POLLS
Wayne State 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 received votes in the three to follow.

The head coaches of the Great Lakes Valley Conference predicted a third-place finish in the East Division for Indianapolis.

Winona State ranked third in the preseason poll of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, and received a vote in this week's CBN Division II national poll.

Rollins was tabbed for seventh in the Sunshine State Conference preseason poll.  The Tars also received votes in this week's CBN poll.

Mount Vernon Nazarene, an NAIA institution, was picked third in the Mid-Central College Conference preseason voting.


THURSDAY, MARCH 8 - AT ROLLINS 14, WAYNE STATE 3
The Warriors, who scored three unearned runs in the late innings, were held to just three hits by Mike Howard (2-1), who walked three and struck out five over eight innings.
Rollins established a 9-0 lead through four innings.  The Tars scored five runs in the first inning, cutting short the WSU debut of starter Chris Waha, the first of five pitchers used by Wayne State in the game.

A single by Brad Guenther to start the game was the only hit allowed by Howard until the sixth, when a walk to J.J. Ciennik and a single by Chris Gebara put two aboard with two outs.  Both Warriors went on to score later in the inning on two separate infield errors to make it a 9-2 game.

The Tars scored once in the bottom of the sixth and four runs in the eighth.  Wayne State tacked on a two-out run in the ninth as Josh Schafer, who reached on a walk, scored on a passed ball.

Anthony Figliolia, Sean Reilly, and Brandon Curson led Rollins with two hits apiece.  Curson and Kevin Mager each hit a home run.


FRIDAY, MARCH 9 - WAYNE STATE 1-5, ROCKHURST 3-4
Wayne State split a doubleheader with Rockhurst on Friday afternoon at Henley Field, dropping the first game, 3-1, before pulling out an eight-inning 5-4 victory in the second game.

Rockhurst starter Mark Himmelberg threw a two-hitter in the opener, and Ryan Porter went 2-for-3 and drove in all three runs for the Hawks.

Making his first collegiate start on the mound, Kyle Zimmerman surrendered three runs (two earned) on six hits in 5.0 innings.  Ethan Vasiliauskas pitched two scoreless innings in relief with a pair of strikeouts.

In game two, Guenther drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth inning to snap a 4-4 tie, and Billy Hurley came on in the bottom half to earn his second save in as many chances.

Andrew Ciennik went 3-for-4 with a walk and an RBI, while a trio of Warriors – Guenther, Zimmerman and Justin DeFrancis – finished with two hits apiece.

Alex Pierse allowed just four hits, walking two and striking out six over seven innings to pick up the win.  All four Rockhurst runs as well as four of the five WSU runs against three Hawks pitchers were unearned due to a combined seven errors.


SATURDAY, MARCH 10 - WAYNE STATE 3-5, MINNESOTA-DULUTH 2-2
Wayne State erased a 2-0 deficit with three runs in the fifth inning of game one on its way to a 3-2 victory.  In game two, the Warriors accumulated a season-high 13 hits in a 5-2 win.

Josh Wedesky improved to 2-0, scattering eight hits over six innings in the opener.  He walked a pair and struck out five before Hurley relieved him to pick up his third save of the year.

Five Warriors had multiple-hit performances in game two, including Kyle Vesey who was 3-for-3 with an RBI.  Guenther, Alex Trojan, Zimmerman and Gebara had two hits apiece.

Kirk Stambaugh went 4.2 innings and allowed four hits and four walks.  He struck out two in his first victory of the year, which was preserved by Jeff Sorenson who tossed 2.1 hitless innings for the save.


SCOUTING INDIANAPOLIS
The Greyhounds have lost four of their five games in Florida over the last five days, including a pair of setbacks to West Chester on Monday in Lakeland.  UIndy has been outscored, 26-4, during its current three-game skid.

Leading five players hitting .300 or better is junior Nick Whitty, who is 5-for-10 with four walks.  Senior Scott Mourey (.467) has driven in a team-high seven runs.

Junior Hugo Lalonde is 2-0 with seven strikeouts, and has not allowed a walk or a run in 14 innings.  The rest of the pitching staff, however, has a combined 6.43 ERA.

Wayne State and Indianapolis have not met since March 12, 2005, which resulted in a 7-4 WSU victory.


SCOUTING WINONA STATE
Winona State dropped an 11-8 result to Lock Haven on Monday, and will face Florida Southern on Tuesday.

Leading the offense are senior Adam Gemuenden (.444) and junior Cody Strang (.423), who has a team-high eight RBI.  The pitching staff has a 4.67 ERA, and senior Kodey Simon, the NSIC Preseason Pitcher of the Year, had struggled thus far (0-2, 8.18 ERA, 9 K).

Wayne State and Winona State, two teams dubbed the “Warriors,” have been scheduled to play at the RussMatt Invitational the last two years but poor weather caused the cancellation of the games both times.  They have not met since 2006, and Wayne State is 1-4 all-time against Winona State.


SCOUTING ROLLINS
The Tars won two out of three since their victory last Thursday over Wayne State.  Rollins will host Pace on Wednesday prior to its rematch with WSU.

Sophomore Zach Persky is hitting .333 with 13 RBI and a team-high 17 runs scored.  Mager enters Wednesday with 15 RBI and a nine-game hitting streak.

The staff is led by two pitchers with 3-0 records.  Figliolia has allowed just one earned run in 24.2 innings, and fellow junior Taylor Smith has a team-best 40 strikeouts with a 1.37 ERA.


SCOUTING MOUNT VERNON NAZARENE
The Cougars have a doubleheader against Mount Marty on Thursday and a matchup with Valley Forge earlier on Friday before their game against Wayne State later in the day.  MVNU won its first four games of the season but dropped three of four against Taylor (Ind.) last weekend.

Mount Vernon Nazarene has three players hitting over .420, including sophomore Robert Kane who is 10-for-22 with five RBI and seven runs scored.  Sophomore Seth Eller (.435) and senior Josh Roberts (.423) have contributed to an offense which altogether has a .336 average through eight games.

Junior left-hander Justin Brown is 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA in his first two starts.


WARRIOR NOTEBOOK
With three saves this season, Hurley has 11 for his career which puts him in second place all-time at WSU.  The record is 18 held by Jon Venuto (1999-2002).

Wedesky is 10-2 in his last 13 starts.  He won his first eight decisions last season and is 2-0 this year while averaging one strikeout per inning.

Andrew Ciennik (.391) and Guenther (.375) are leading WSU with nine hits apiece and have combined to score nine runs and drive in six.  Guenther has also played errorless defense in the outfield and at catcher, throwing out four attempted base stealers.

Henley Field, the site of last week's doubleheader with Rockhurst, was the spring training facility for the Detroit Tigers until 1966.  It is the current home of Florida Southern.


LOOKING AHEAD
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.  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.