GAME NOTES IN PDF FORMAT

GAME STORYLINES
With 12 of its first 16 conference games of the season at home in Detroit, the Wayne State University baseball team (19-8, 10-4) will end that 16-game stretch wth a 2:00 doubleheader Wednesday against Saginaw Valley State University (12-13, 9-5) at the WSU Baseball field.

Wayne State won three out of four games against Northwood last weekend to take sole possession of first place in the GLIAC.  Sagainw Valley State, one of three teams tied for second place in the conference, split a doubleheader with Northwood and went 1-3 against Grand 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 111-75.

Walt Head has a 30-year career record of 830-593-6 at Saginaw Valley State.


IN THE POLLS
Wayne State and Saginaw Valley State were picked to finish second and fourth, respectively, in the 2012 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference preseason coaches' poll.  The Warriors also received votes in Monday's Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Division II poll.


FRIDAY RECAP - WAYNE STATE 10-5, NORTHWOOD 2-4
The Warriors took charge early in game one scoring six times on six hits in the bottom of the first.  Both Alex Trojan and Kenny Davis supplied two-run singles, while Kasey Koster added an RBI single.

WSU added two runs in the third on an RBI single by Davis and a fielder's choice RBI off the bat of Brad Guenther, and two more runs in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Andrew Ciennik and a two-out RBI single by Trojan.

The Timberwolves scored both of their runs in the top of the seventh inning.  Alex Pierse blanked Northwood on six hits in his five innings of work to improve to 3-1 on the season.

WSU batters recorded 10 hits and eight earned runs off NU starter Mark Heard (1-4).

Davis went 3-for-3 with three RBI, while Trojan also had three RBI on two hits.  Andrew Ciennik, Chris Gebara and Koster each had a multiple-hit affair.

In game two, Northwood snapped a 1-1 draw with a three-run third inning on three hits and four Warrior errors.

Wayne State rallied with a four-run frame in the bottom of the fourth.  Gebara had a leadoff double, and scored when Davis reached on a single up the middle along with a throwing error.  Justin DeFrancis singled to put runners on the corners, and Guenther walked on a 3-2 offering to load the bases.  Andrew Ciennik had an RBI groundout, and Trojan ripped the first pitch into right field scoring both the tying run and the eventual game-winning run.

The Timberwolves had a two-out base runner in the fifth, but went 1-2-3 in the sixth.  WSU closer Billy Hurley held NU off the scoreboard despite a hitby pitch and a WSU error to earn his seventh save of the season.

Josh Wedesky improved to 4-1 by allowing four runs (two earned) on seven hits in his six innings of action.  Luke Bivens (1-2) suffered the setback after surrendering five earned runs on eight hits in 3.2 innings.

DeFrancis led WSU with three hits including a double, while Guenther, Kyle Vesey and Gebara each had two hits in the contest.


SATURDAY RECAP - WAYNE STATE 13-2, NORTHWOOD 4-4
WSU fell behind 3-0 early in game one on Saturday, but rebounded to score at least one run in every frame to post the victory.  In the bottom of the second, Koster was hit by a pitch with one out and advanced to third on a double by DeFrancis, one of his three hits in the contest.  After fouling off a 3-2 pitch, Guenther delivered a two-run single to right to pull the Warriors within one at 3-2.

Wayne State tied the contest in the third as Trojan, who had led off the inning with a walk, scored on a two-out single by Koster.

WSU snapped the 3-3 deadlock in the fourth by scoring four times on two hits, five walks and a wild pitch.  DeFrancis started the rally with a triple and scored the go-ahead run on a double by Guenther.  Gebara and Koster had back-to-back bases loaded walks in the inning.

After Northwood made it 7-4 in the fifth, the Warriors tacked on three runs in each of their final two at bats.  Gebara had an RBI single in the fifth, while Trojan had a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

Chris Waha earned his first win of the season allowing just one unearned run in his two innings of work.  Keaton LeBlanc pitched two scoreless innings of relief and Kirk Stambaugh had a 1-2-3 seventh.

DeFrancis and Guenther each went 3-for-4 in the contest with Guenther driving in three, while DeFrancis and Andrew Ciennik each scored three times.

After the Timberwolves scored an unearned run in the top of the first in game two, WSU evened the score and nearly took the lead.  DeFrancis worked a 3-2 walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Guenther.  On Andrew Ciennik's foul out, DeFrancis advanced to third where he scored on a infield single by Trojan.  Vesey followed with what would have been an RBI triple, but Trojan was ruled out for missing third base.

Wayne State knotted the game at two in the bottom of the fourth as Vesey had a leadoff double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Gebara.  Northwood had five hits in the sixth but managed just two runs as the Warrior defense caught one runner trying to steal and another Timberwolf was thrown out at the plate.

WSU left two runners on base in the sixth, and had the seventh inning end on a double play.

Greg Spiess suffered the setback after allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits in five innings.

Vesey had two of WSU's five hits in the nightcap.  DeFrancis reached base seven times in the twinbill with two singles, a double, a triple, two walks and a hit by pitch.


SCOUTING SAGINAW VALLEY STATE
The Cardinals opened the season with a 3-8 record on their Florida trip but have since gone 9-5 in conference play.  Four of the losses, however, have come in the last five games.

Senior Brandon Schwanz leads the team and ranks third in the GLIAC with a .433 batting average.  He has scored 14 runs, second on the squad behind junior Kyle O'Boyle who is hitting .391 with a team-best 15 RBI.

Junior Mike Saunders, who pitched a four-hit shutout Friday against GVSU, is 4-1 with a staff-low 1.59 ERA.  He has 35 strikeouts and a GLIAC-best .179 batting average against.  Saunders, along with senior Colin Coulter (4-1, 2.18 ERA, 26 K) and junior Carson Beauchaine (2-2, 1.73 ERA, 17 K), have helped the SVSU staff compile a 3.55 ERA, second in the conference to Wayne State (3.40).

The Warriors and Cardinals last met in the 2011 GLIAC Tournament, which resulted in an 11-3 victory for WSU.  The Cardinals took three out of four games during the regular season.


WARRIOR NOTEBOOK
Leading the Warriors last weekend was DeFrancis, who went 7-for-12 (.583) with a team-high eight runs scored.  He had a pair of three-hit games in the series, and posted a .917 slugging percentage as well as a .706 on-base percentage.  DeFrancis, who has reached base in 18 straight games, ranks second in the GLIAC with a .439 batting average this season.

Guenther had six hits in the Northwood series, and Trojan drove in a team-best seven runs while extending his hitting streak to a career-long 17 games.  Trojan is 22-for-57 (.386) with 16 RBI and 10 runs scored during the streak.

With his first of two sacrifice flies over the weekend, Andrew Ciennik surpassed Aaron Lawson (1998-2001) for the WSU career record.  Ciennik has 16 sacrifice flies in his career.

After averaging 4.23 runs over the first 22 games, the Warriors have scored an average of eight runs per game over the last five contests.  WSU totaled 39 hits in the Northwood series and had 11 in the April 1 series finale at Tiffin.

Hurley (3-0, seven saves) earned either a win or a save in his first 10 relief appearances this season.  He picked up his seventh save, one shy of his 2011 total, on Friday against the Timberwolves.  Hurley is three saves away from matching the WSU single-season record (10 - Jon Venuto, 2000), while his 15 career saves has him three away from tying the career record as well (18 - Venuto, 1999-2002).


WARRIORS IN THE PROS
Anthony Bass was named to the 25-man roster for the San Diego Padres after a successful spring.  He went 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA and nine strikeouts over 15 innings during Spring Training.  He made two appearances during the first week of the regular season, including two scoreless innings on Opening Day against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

A 2008 fifth-round draft pick of the Padres, Bass 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, debuted for the Reno Aces (AAA) on April 5 and had a pinch-hit single.  LaPensee hit .244 with 24 RBI in 74 games last year in his first professional season with the Visalia Rawhide (A-Adv.).

Brett Shankin, a 28th-round draft pick of the Seattle Mariners, made his first appearance for the Clinton LumberKings (A) on Monday.  Shankin pitched in 16 games for the Pulaski Mariners (R) last season.


ALUMNI EVENTS
Wayne State will celebrate the 30-year anniversary of the 1982 GLIAC Championship team on Saturday, April 21, as the Warriors host the Ashland Eagles for a doubleheader at the WSU Baseball Field.  The 1982 squad completed a “three-peat” of conference titles for the Tartars and won 29 games, a school record which held until 1999.  The team also had three WSU Athletic Hall of Fame inductees - David Croskey, Mark Limback and head coach Angelo Gust.

The Wayne State baseball program is also proud to present the annual Dugout Club Golf Outing and Alumni Game on Sept. 22-23. The golf outing will be held at Northville Hills on the morning of Sept. 22.  The alumni baseball game is scheduled for Sept. 23 at the WSU Baseball Field.


LOOKING AHEAD
Future home weekends include April 21-22 against Ashland and May 5-6 vs. Lake Erie.  Wayne State has road series with Ohio Dominican (April 14-15) and GVSU (April 28-29), and doubleheaders at Hillsdale (April 18) and SVSU (May 2).

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