GAME NOTES IN PDF FORMAT

GAME STORYLINES
The Wayne State University baseball team (19-10, 10-6 GLIAC) will travel to Ohio Dominican University (16-14, 8-8 GLIAC) for the first time this weekend, as the Warriors and Panthers square off in a four-game series at Frank Damian Field in Columbus.  The doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday will start at 1:00 and noon, respectively.

Wayne State won three out of four games against Northwood last weekend but lost a pair Wednesday to Saginaw Valley State.  ODU has lost seven of its last nine games, including two setbacks Wednesday against Lake Erie.

Two games separate the Warriors and Panthers in the GLIAC standings.  Wayne State is tied with Ashland for fourth place, while ODU is in sixth.


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 111-77.

Paul Page, the winningest coach in ODU history, has a career record of 899-442-6 in 25 years at Ohio Dominican.


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


WEDNESDAY RECAP
GAME 1- SAGINAW VALLEY STATE 10, WAYNE STATE 6: The Warriors scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh, totaling three hits and capitalizing on two SVSU errors.  However, the deficit was too great to overcome as the Cardinals had earlier scored three runs in the third and fourth innings, and another two in the seventh.

Alex Trojan went 2-for-3 for the Warriors, while a trio of Cardinals – Brandon Schwanz, Kyle O'Boyle and Andy Orr – had two-hit games.

Mike VanAlst drove in a run with a base hit in the top of the first to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead, which expanded to 4-0 in the third due in part to an RBI single by Orr and a bases-loaded walk to Chet LaFave.

Wayne State cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the third on an RBI single by Trojan and a sacrifice fly by Kyle Vesey.

SVSU's second consecutive three-run inning chased WSU starter Josh Wedesky from the game.  O'Boyle hit a two-run double in the frame as the Cardinals pulled ahead, 7-2.

The Warriors left runners stranded in every inning, including three in the fifth. The Cardinals added a run in the sixth on an RBI single by Schwanz and two in the seventh on an RBI double by LaFave and an RBI single by Cam Wiechmann.

A walk to Vesey, consecutive singles by Eric Cunningham and Ryan Buter, and a SV error led to the first of three runs in the seventh.  Kasey Koster and Brad Guenther each drove in a run as well before the rally was cut short.

Wedesky (4-2) allowed six earned runs over 3.1 innings, giving up five hits and four walks with three strikeouts.  Andrew Doyle (1-1) walked eight over six innings but allowed just two runs to earn his first win of the year.

GAME 2 - SAGINAW VALLEY STATE 7, WAYNE STATE 3 (8 INN.):  Andrew Ciennik, Trojan and Cunningham had two hits apiece but the Warriors were again plagued by runners left on base.  Two errors in the top of the eighth inning were costly as well, contributing to SVSU's five-run output.

The Warriors loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the seventh, but were unable to put across the winning run.  It was one of three innings in which WSU left the bases full.

LaFave, who led off the eighth with a triple, scored the go-ahead run on WSU's second miscue of the inning.  The game-winner was produced by Matt Hunt's RBI single, while a two-run double by O'Boyle and an RBI double by VanAlst provided insurance.

WSU took a 1-0 lead in the second as Trojan, who led off the inning with a base hit, scored on an error.  A double by O'Boyle and a single by VanAlst each drove in a run for the Cardinals in the third.

An RBI single by Cunningham, one of three Wayne State hits in the fifth, tied the score at 2-2.

After 3.1 scoreless relief innings with four strikeouts, Ethan Vasiliauskas was lifted for Kirk Stambaugh who took the tough loss despite all five runs he allowed in 1.2 innings being unearned.

Guenther scored an unearned run stemming from an SV error in the bottom of the eighth.  It was the only run allowed by Justin Drzewicki (1-1) in 2.1 innings of work.

WSU starter Chris Waha allowed two runs on three hits and four walks in 2.2 innings before being relieved by Vasiliauskas.


SCOUTING OHIO DOMINICAN
Ohio Dominican was not eligible for a postseason berth last year as it transitioned from NAIA to Division II, but the Panthers still finished fifth in their first season in the GLIAC, just one spot out of what would have been a conference tournament bid.  This season, the Panthers are already three wins shy of matching their 2011 overall record and are in the hunt for a top-four finish in 2012.

Senior Evan Shaw is batting .340 with team-high totals in hits (32), runs scored (18) and stolen bases (14).  He is one of two Panthers to have played in a squad-high 29 games, along with classmate John Bowron who has a .344 average with 31 hits and 16 runs scored.  Sophomore Bryan Rudolph has driven in a team-best 18 runs this season.

While the Panthers have the third-best team batting average (.304) in the conference, they have the second-worst earned run average (5.92) and fielding percentage (.944).  Junior Nick Venditti is 3-2 with a 5.23 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 43 innings.

Wayne State swept the four-game series with Ohio Dominincan and outscored ODU, 56-15, last April in Detroit.


WARRIOR NOTEBOOK
Leading the Warriors last weekend against Northwood was Justin 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 ranks third in the GLIAC with a .410 batting average this season.

Guenther, the conference leader in runs scored (26), had six hits in the Northwood series, and Trojan drove in a team-best seven runs.  Trojan went 4-for-7 in the doubleheader Wednesday against Saginaw Valley State and extended his career-long hitting streak to 19 games.   He is 26-for-64 (.406) with 17 RBI and 11 runs scored during the streak.  Trojan ranks sixth in the conference with 21 RBI this season.

With his first of two sacrifice flies last weekend, Andrew Ciennik surpassed Aaron Lawson (1998-2001) for the WSU career record.  On Wednesday he tied the career mark for sacrifice bunts held by Dan Laethem (1973-76) and Bobby Marten (2002-05).  Ciennik, who ranks seventh in the GLIAC in hits (34) and 10th in batting average (.386) this season, has 16 sacrifice flies and 26 sacrifice bunts in his career.

Billy 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).

Vasiliauskas has allowed just one earned run in eight relief appearances this season (18.2 innings).  He and Wedesky are tied for the staff lead with 23 strikeouts.

Wayne State stranded 25 runners over the two games against SVSU, as the Cardinals were able to avenge their elimination loss to the Warriors in the 2011 GLIAC Tournament.  SVSU has won five of the last six regular season meetings.


WARRIORS IN THE PROS
Former Wayne State University right-hander Anthony Bass made his first start of the 2012 regular season for the San Diego Padres on Thursday, facing the Arizona Diamondbacks in the final game of a series at PETCO Park in San Diego.  Replacing Dustin Moseley who is on the disabled list with a shoulder injury, Bass allowed just one run on three hits in 4.1 innings.  He walked two and struck out five in a no-decision as Arizona scored twice in the late innings for a 3-1 win.

Bass was named to the Padres 25-man roster after posting a 2-0 record 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 RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning in a 5-2 victory over Colorado Springs on Opening Day.  He is 2-for-7 in five games with the Aces.  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 took the loss but struck out three over 3.0 innings in relief.  He pitched in 16 games for the Pulaski Mariners (R) last season, his first year as a pro.


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 for Wayne State include April 21-22 against Ashland and May 5-6 vs. Lake Erie.  Wayne State has a four-game road series with 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.