GAME NOTES IN PDF FORMAT

GAME STORYLINES
The Wayne State University baseball team (12-5, 3-1) will wrap up its six-game homestand with a GLIAC doubleheader Wednesday at 2:00 against Hillsdale College (2-14, 0-4) at the WSU Baseball Field.

Wayne State took three out of four games last weekend against Findlay to open conference play , and in all three victories the Warriors came from behind.  Games two and four were walkoff results, as Andrew Ciennik and Brad Guenther, respectively, had game-winning RBI singles in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Hillsdale was swept in four games by Saginaw Valley State over the weekend.


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 104-72.

With over 300 victories in 19 years, Paul Noce is the all-time winningest coach in the 100-plus year history of the Hillsdale baseball program.


IN THE POLLS
Wayne State and Hillsdale were picked to finish second and ninth, respectively, in the 2012 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference preseason coaches' poll.  The Warriors also received votes in this week's Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Division II polls.


RECAP - SATURDAY, MARCH 24
GAME 1 -  WAYNE STATE 5, FINDLAY 3:  With the Warriors trailing, 3-2, in the fifth inning, Andrew Ciennik hit a one-out single and came around to score as Alex Trojan laced a double off the Green Monster in left.  Trojan subsequently scored on a base hit by Kyle Vesey which gave WSU the lead.

Wayne State added an insurance run in the sixth as Andrew Ciennik's RBI single brought home Guenther.

Ethan Vasiliauskas, who came on in relief of starter Alex Pierse, improved to 3-0 on the season.  Billy Hurley picked up his fifth save with a 1-2-3 seventh inning.

Vesey, who was 3-for-3 with three RBI, drove in the first two runs of the game on a base hit in the first and a double in the third.  A bases-clearing double by Victor Migliore in the fourth, however, gave Findlay a 3-2 advantage.

Pierse allowed only three hits in 4.2 innings but walked six before giving way to Vasiliauskas, who struck out a pair over 1.1 innings of work.

GAME 2 - WAYNE STATE 5, FINDLAY 4: Hurley's attempt to achieve two saves in one day was foiled by Migliore's RBI single in the top of the seventh which tied the game, 4-4.  In the bottom of the inning, Kyle Zimmerman hit a one-out single and both Kenny Davis and Guenther were hit by a pitch, setting up Andrew Ciennik for his two-out walkoff single up the middle.

Zimmerman went 3-for-4 to lead four Warriors with multi-hit games.  Andrew Ciennik, Trojan and J.J. Ciennik had two hits apiece.

Both starters Josh Wedesky and Preston Zachrich took no-decisions in what was a very tight game.  Wedesky allowed two earned runs on seven hits over six innings, while Zachrich went 5.1 innings and gave up four runs on nine hits and four walks with five strikeouts.

Findlay took a 1-0 lead in the second on an RBI double by Blake Schmenk.  Wayne State answered in the bottom half with a leadoff home run by J.J. Ciennik, the first of his career and the first by a Warrior this season.

A one-out error in the third allowed Jon Shollenberger to score from second base and put the Oilers ahead, 2-1.  Wayne State tied it on J.J. Ciennik's RBI double off the Green Monster in the fifth, but Findlay was quick to answer again with a two-out RBI single by Shollenberger in the sixth.

Three walks in the bottom of the sixth help set up Andrew Ciennik for an RBI double and Vesey for a sacrifice fly to put the Warriors ahead going into the final inning.

Migliore drove in the game-tying run, but Hurley fanned Schmenk with the go-ahead run at third to keep the game tied.


RECAP - SUNDAY, MARCH 25
GAME 3 -  FINDLAY 15, WAYNE STATE 8:  The teams combined for 27 hits and eight errors in a game which approached the three-hour mark.  Jeff Sorenson, the third of five WSU pitchers, took the loss (1-2) while Mike Fry, the last of three Findlay hurlers, picked up his first win of the year.

The Oilers broke an 8-7 game open in their eight-run sixth inning, which included Schmenk's bases-clearing double.  Most of Findlay's runs in the inning were unearned as a result of three WSU fielding errors.

Prior to the sixth the game went back and forth, as the Oilers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning but the Warriors tied it with two runs in each of the first two frames.

Trailing by three runs in the fifth, Wayne State scored four times to take its only lead of the game.  Eric Cunningham drove in two runs with a base hit and later scored on a single by Andrew Ciennik.  Guenther scored on an RBI single by Vesey.  All four Warriors finished the game with two hits apiece.

GAME 4 -  WAYNE STATE 2, FINDLAY 1:  A trio of Wayne State pitchers were working on a three-hit shutout until Migliore drove in Devon Christian with a two-out single in the top of the seventh to tie the score.

J.J. Ciennik led off the bottom of the seventh with a base hit and, with two outs, Trojan drew a walk which set up Guenther's game-winning hit up the middle.

Chris Waha pitched five shutout innings, allowing three hits, walking five and striking out three.  Keaton LeBlanc pitched a 1-2-3 sixth, and while Hurley was unable to record a save he did improve to 3-0 on the year.

Wayne State's only other two hits off of UF starter Darrell Thobe came in the fourth inning, when Chris Gebara's RBI single scored Vesey and gave WSU a 1-0 lead.  Thobe (0-1) went the distance for the Oilers and struck out six.


SCOUTING HILLSDALE
The Chargers have lost eight in a row, dropping their final four games in Florida and their first four GLIAC games against SVSU.  Five of Hillsdale's losses in that span were by one run, including Sunday's finale which went into extra innings.

Senior Mike Blanchard leads the team with a .421 batting average and has hits in seven of his last eight games, six of those being multi-hit games.  Junior Mike Vanchieri is on a 10-game hitting streak.

Charger pitchers allowed just a total of seven earned runs in the four losses to the Cardinals over the weekend, but Hillsdale committed 11 errors in those games, and left 29 runners on base.

Wayne State has won 27 of its last 32 meetings with Hillsdale since 2003.


WARRIOR NOTEBOOK
Hurley has earned either a win or a save in each of his eight relief appearances this season.  He picked up his fifth save of the year Saturday against the Oilers, and was credited with a victory in each of the walkoff wins.  Hurley is halfway to matching the WSU single-season record for saves (10 - Jon Venuto, 2000), while his 13 career saves has him five away from tying the career record as well (18 - Venuto, 1999-2002).

Andrew Ciennik went 8-for-15 with five RBI in the weekend series, and Guenther (6-for-12) scored a team-high six runs.  Vesey (5-for-12) drove in a team-best six runs in the four games.

Trojan has a seven-game hitting streak, one shy of the longest by any Warrior this season.  The eight-game streak belongs to Justin DeFrancis, who missed the Findlay series with an injury.

Wayne State had its eight-game winning streak against Findlay snapped, but the Warriors are 18-5 versus the Oilers since 2007.


2012 TEAM CAPTAINS
Three seniors are serving as Wayne State's team captains for the 2012 season.  Phil Swanson, in his second year as a co-captain, will be joined in that role by J.J. Ciennik and Hurley.

A .293 career hitter, Swanson has played in 113 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.


WARRIORS IN THE PROS
Anthony Bass has made five Spring Training appearances for the San Diego Padres this month.  He picked up his second victory of the spring Saturday against the Chicago Cubs, allowing just one run on one hit in four innings.  Bass has a 2.08 ERA and eight strikeouts in 13 innings this spring.  He was the starting pitcher for the San Diego Padres in their first game of the spring, an annual charity game against the Seattle Mariners on March 4 at the Peoria Sports Complex, a venue Bass became familiar with as he spent time in the Arizona Fall League following the end of the 2011 regular season.

Bass, a 2008 fifth-round draft pick who is competing for a spot on the Padres staff in 2012, was called up to the major leagues last June and made 27 appearances including three starts.  He went 2-0 with a 1.68 ERA, 24 strikeouts, a .236 batting average against and a 1.28 WHIP.

Ryan LaPensee, playing in the Arizona Diamondbacks system, made his first appearance of the spring with the big league club on March 21.  He entered the game in the seventh inning as a defensive substitution, and walked in his only plate appearance in the eighth.  LaPensee hit .244 with 24 RBI in 74 games last year in his first professional season with the Visalia Rawhide in the California League (A-Adv.).


LOOKING AHEAD
Future home weekends include April 6-7 vs. Northwood, April 21-22 against Ashland and May 5-6 vs. Lake Erie.  Wayne State will also host Saginaw Valley State on Wednesday, April 11.

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