GAME NOTES IN PDF FORMAT

GAME STORYLINES
The Wayne State University baseball team (16-7, 7-3) will host Northwood University (13-8, 4-6) in a conference doubleheader this weekend at the WSU Baseball Field.  Friday's doubleheader will start at 1:00 and Saturday's will begin at noon.

After dropping the series opener, Wayne State took the following three games last weekend at Tiffin in WSU's first road GLIAC series of the season.

Northwood lost three out of four last weekend against Ohio Dominican and split a twinbill Wednesday at Saginaw Valley State.


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 108-74.

Joe Di Benedetto has 572 victories over his 23-year career, which includes 13 seasons at Northwood.  He also coached at Northwood's Florida campus for eight years and began his career at Lynn University for three seasons.


IN THE POLLS
Wayne State and Northwood were picked to finish second and sixth, 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 31
GAME 1 -  TIFFIN 7, WAYNE STATE 6:  Kasey Koster went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored.  Justin DeFrancis and Kyle Zimmerman finished with two hits and two runs scored apiece.

The teams combined for 11 runs over the fourth and fifth innings.  It was the error-riddled fourth inning, however, which proved to be the difference as the Warriors took a 4-1 lead only to have the Dragons respond with four runs in the bottom half of the frame.

Zimmerman, who was hit by a pitch to start the fourth, scored on an error to break a 1-1 tie.  Kenny Davis came in on a wild pitch, and Kyle Vesey singled in a run.

Kyle Robinson's RBI single in the bottom of the inning plated Ty Glass, who reached on the first of three WSU errors in the frame.  Pat Curtin and Jordan Chiero each had an RBI single in the inning as well.

Wayne State reclaimed the lead on a two-run homer by Koster in the fifth, but a two-run double by Ryan Williams in the bottom half produced the game-winning runs.

Only three of the seven runs allowed by Alex Pierse in his four innings of work were earned.  Pierse (2-1) allowed seven hits, walked four and struck out two before Brock Bates came in to pitch two shutout innings.

Greg Sombati (1-0) earned the win in relief, and Curtin recorded his first save of the season.

GAME 2 - WAYNE STATE 2, TIFFIN 0: Josh Wedesky and Brent Faber had each allowed only three hits in a scoreless game through six innings, but the Warriors broke the tie and chased Faber from the game in the seventh.

Chris Gebara and Brad Guenther each drove in a run as Wayne State earned its first shutout win since April 17, 2011 vs. Ohio Dominican.

Vesey led off the seventh inning with a single and went on to score on Gebara's base hit.  The Warriors loaded the bases with two outs and Guenther's RBI single made it a 2-0 game.

The Dragons had a runner at third base in both the first and third innings, but both were left stranded by Wedesky (3-1) as he picked up his third career shutout and first since March 26, 2011 at Findlay.


RECAP - SUNDAY, APRIL 1
GAME 3 - WAYNE STATE 4, TIFFIN 3:  After the Dragons scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie the score, Andrew Ciennik drove in the final go-ahead run in the top of the seventh with an RBI single.  Billy Hurley came on in relief of Ethan Vasiliauskas to pick up his sixth save of the season.

The Warriors totaled a season-high 14 hits.  Andrew Ciennik went 3-for-4 with two RBI, while four others – Guenther, Alex Trojan, Zimmerman and Koster – had two hits each.

Vasiliauskas (5-0), who entered the game with four wins over seven relief appearances, allowed just two earned runs on six hits over six innings in his first WSU start.

Doubles by DeFrancis and Andrew Ciennik produced a run in the top of the first.  Tiffin tied it in the bottom of the third on an RBI double by Curtin, one of his three hits in the game.

Guenther drove in a run with a base hit in the fifth, and a sacrifice fly by Davis in the sixth inning made it a 3-1 game.  Curtin led off the bottom of the sixth with a triple and scored on Jordan Chiero's double.  Cheiro later scored on a sacrifice fly by Cory Osborne.

Guenther, who led off the seventh with a triple, scored on Andrew Ciennik's base hit to left.  As Hurley came in to preserve the win, K.C. Weber was picked off after drawing a walk and Williams was left stranded after hitting a one-out triple.

Chris Pistorio (1-2) took the loss in relief of Eric Klepper, who allowed 10 hits but struck out eight over six innings.

GAME 4 - WAYNE STATE 10, TIFFIN 5: Wayne State scored four runs in the fifth inning and four in the seventh, while Tiffin only responded with two runs in each frame.

Guenther, Vesey, Gebara and Koster each finished with two hits.  Trojan, Vesey and Koster also each had two runs batted in.

Vesey's RBI single in the top of the first gave WSU a lead which held until Curtin drove in a run with a grounder in the third.

Starting WSU's five-run fifth inning was Koster's second home run of the series.  Trojan drove in a pair with a base hit, Andrew Ciennik scored on a wild pitch and Zimmerman hit a sacrifice fly.

Consecutive RBI singles by Roger Christensen and Curtin in the bottom of the fifth made it a 5-3 game.  In the seventh, Vesey's one-out double produced a run, as did an RBI single by Zimmerman and a sacrifice fly by Koster.  Vesey also scored on a wild pitch.

Tiffin's two-run seventh inning spoiled the potential complete-game victory for Greg Spiess, but he still came away with his first win as a Warrior.  Kirk Stambaugh came in to record the final out.  The first of four pitchers used by the Dragons, Jordan Liette (2-3) allowed three earned runs on five hits in 4.1 innings.  He walked three and struck out four.


SCOUTING NORTHWOOD
After opening the season with a 9-1 record in their Florida games during Spring Break, the Timberwolves are 4-7 since.  Six of the seven losses, however, have been by two runs or less.

Junior Pat Schlenke is hitting a team-best .388 with nine doubles and 11 runs scored.  Three Timberwolves are tied for team-high honors with 21 hits - senior Austin Rinard, and juniors Cory Colucci and Jake Oard.

Freshman Luke Bivens is 1-1 with a 1.27 ERA and 16 strikeouts in five appearances including four starts.  Junior Jordan Snider is off to a 3-0 start this season.  The Northwood staff has a combined 3.59 ERA.


WARRIOR NOTEBOOK
Koster went 8-for-13 (.615) with three extra-base hits and four RBI in the series at Tiffin.

Trojan has a 13-game hitting streak and has reached base in 15 straight.  Both streaks are the longest by a Warrior this season.  DeFrancis had his 11-game hitting streak snapped Saturday but has still reached base in 14 straight games, while Guenther has reached in 12 straight.

Including a pair of walkoff wins two weeks ago against Findlay, Wayne State is 9-2 in one-run games in 2012.

Vasiliauskas has allowed just three earned runs in 21.1 innings this season.  He is also tied with Wedesky for the staff lead with 18 strikeouts.

Hurley (3-0, six saves) has earned either a win or a save in each of his nine relief appearances this season.  He picked up his fifth save of the year against the Oilers, and was credited with a victory in each of the walkoff wins.  Hurley is four saves away from matching the WSU single-season record for saves (10 - Jon Venuto, 2000), while his 14 career saves has him four away from tying the career record as well (18 - Venuto, 1999-2002).


WARRIORS IN THE PROS
Anthony Bass was named to the Opening Day 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.

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, made three appearances with the big league club this spring.  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.).

Brett Shankin, a 28th-round draft pick of the Seattle Mariners, has been assigned to the Clinton LumberKings of the Midwest League (A).  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 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.