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TOURNAMENT STORYLINES
The Wayne State University baseball team (34-19) qualified for the NCAA Midwest Regional for the third straight season and will host the tournament this week at Oestrike Stadium in Ypsilanti on the campus of Eastern Michigan University.  The No. 3 seed in the regional, Wayne State will face Northern Kentucky (35-20) in the opening round Thursday at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Other first round games include top seed Indianapolis against Lewis at 11:00 a.m., and Grand Valley State against Rockhurst at 6:00 p.m.

Wayne State, just one victory shy of matching its school-record win total from last year, finished second to GVSU in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament last week in Chillicothe, Ohio.  Northern Kentucky was the runner-up to Indianapolis in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament in Evansville, Ind.

Live stats will be available for all games during the NCAA Midwest Regional, which will conclude Sunday.  The tournament page at wsuathletics.com will be updated daily with results, box scores and multimedia links.  Audio for all Wayne State games will be available free of charge on Warrior All-Access.


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 126-86.

Todd Asalon has a record of 433-270-1 in 12 seasons at Northern Kentucky.  His career record, which includes six seasons at Thomas More College, is 577-362-1.


WAYNE STATE'S REGIONAL HISTORY
Wayne State has played in the NCAA Regional five times, qualifying for the first time in school history in 2005.  The Warriors advanced to the championship game of the 2008 tournament in Crestwood, Ill., losing a 3-0 result to Ashland in the third meeting of the tournament between the two schools.

The Warriors went 0-2 in the 2010 regional, including a 2-1 loss to Northern Kentucky in the opening round.  Last year Wayne State recovered from an opening round loss to Grand Valley State by eliminating three consecutive GLVC foes, including NKU, to force a rematch with GVSU in the title game in Normal, Ill.

Over its five NCAA Regional appearances, Wayne State has a 6-8 record.


SCOUTING NORTHERN KENTUCKY
Northern Kentucky, which will reclassify to Division I next season and join the Atlantic Sun Conference, was denied its sixth GLVC Tournament title after a 4-3 loss to Indianapolis on Sunday in the championship game.  Nonetheless, the Norse are making their fifth straight NCAA Regional appearance and their eighth since 2002.

Juniors Phil Smith and Brett Loeding were both named to the All-GLVC First Team.  Smith, the NKU first baseman, leads NKU with a .540 slugging percentage and 25 extra-base hits including six home runs.  Loeding is 7-4 with a staff-low 1.93 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 98 innings.

Junior infielder Brad Clement, who tied an NKU record with five hits in Friday's win over Missouri-St. Louis, leads the squad with a .359 average and 50 RBI.  His 41 runs scored ranks second to senior outfielder and fellow All-GLVC Second Team selection Max Colaner (42).

Wayne State is 5-3 against Northern Kentucky in the all-time series dating back to 1994.  The Warriors faced the Norse in the 2008, 2010 and 2011 regionals.


GLIAC TOURNAMENT RECAP
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9 - WAYNE STATE 4, SAGINAW VALLEY STATE 2: Josh Wedesky and Carson Beauchaine allowed only a combined 10 hits in a game which lasted one hour and 45 minutes and ended with Billy Hurley breaking the school records for saves in a season (11) and career (19).  Wedesky (6-3), who retired 14 straight batters through the middle innings, gave up four walks and four hits.  He matched his season-high with six strikeouts over his 7.2 innings of work.

Beauchaine (3-5), meanwhile, was working on a one-hitter until the fifth when Kyle Vesey, Alex Trojan and Kasey Koster all singled to load the bases with no outs.  A grounder by Chris Gebara, who later hit his first career home run, and a sacrifice fly by Kenny Davis gave the Warriors the lead.

Saginaw Valley State scored once and loaded the bases in the eighth, but Ethan Vasiliauskas struck out Orr to preserve the 4-2 advantage.  Hurley retired the Cardinals in order in the ninth to break Jon Venuto's school records for saves in a single season and career, which Venuto set in 2000 and 2002, respectively.

THURSDAY, MAY 10 - WAYNE STATE 6, LAKE ERIE 1:  Alex Pierse tossed a three-hitter and struck out seven in a complete-game victory (7-1).  His teammates totaled 13 hits and seven walks against five Storm hurlers.

Andrew Ciennik had his second career four-hit game and his first since 2009.  Gebara also reached four times on two hits and two walks.  Vesey, Brad Guenther and Justin DeFrancis all finished with two hits apiece as well.

Wayne State opened up the game with four runs in the third, including a two-run single by Koster, as all nine Warriors batted in the inning.  Pierse did not allow a baserunner until the fourth inning, and did not permit a runner past second base until the seventh when Lake Erie scored its lone run on an RBI single by Sean Mathews.

FRIDAY, MAY 11 - GRAND VALLEY STATE 6, WAYNE STATE 4:  Wayne State took a 4-3 lead into the eighth when GVSU scored three times, ending Chris Waha's bid for a victory after the senior right pitched seven strong innings.

Vesey, Koster and Davis had two hits apiece as the Warriors scored a run in each of the middle innings.  Koster scored twice and hit his fifth home run of the season.  Kevin Zak and Chris Rudenga led the Lakers with three hits apiece.

Guenther scored on an RBI single by Kyle Zimmerman, his first hit of the postseason, in the fifth inning.  Koster, who started the sixth with a base hit, scored on a grounder by Guenther to make it a 4-2 game.

The Lakers, who pulled to within a run in the sixth, sent all nine hitters to the plate in their three-run eighth inning, as Vasiliauskas (6-2) allowed four hits in relief of Waha, who had scattered eight hits through the first seven frames.  Cory Rademacher (4-0) allowed one hit over 2.2 innings in relief of Cory Baker, and Brad Zambron earned his 16th save of the year.

FRIDAY, MAY 11 - WAYNE STATE 13, SAGINAW VALLEY STATE 6:  Four Warriors reached base via a hit, a walk or a hit by pitch at least four times in the game as Wayne State out-hit SVSU, 18-13, and eliminated the Cardinals for the second straight year.  Andrew Ciennik went 3-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored.

Davis had three hits, two walks, two RBI and two runs scored, while Zimmerman also contributed three hits and scored twice.  Koster, one of four Warriors with two hits, drove in four runs.

After SVSU established a 5-3 lead and chased starter Greg Spiess from the game, Justin Sylvester came in and allowed just one run over the final 6.1 innings.  Sylvester (2-0) scattered five hits, walked one and struck out a pair in the longest outing of his career.

Wayne State jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, but Saginaw Valley State tied it with two runs in the bottom half and another run in the second, as the teams combined for nine hits in the first two frames.

Koster's bases-clearing double in the fifth erased a 5-3 deficit.  Davis singled to start WSU's six-run fifth inning, during which the Warriors sent 12 hitters to the plate.  Ciennik singled in two runs, as did Davis with his second base hit of the inning.

SATURDAY, MAY 12 - WAYNE STATE 4, GRAND VALLEY STATE 3:  Wayne State forced a second game on the final day of the tournament when, after a solo homer by Giancarlo Brugnoni tied the game in the top of the ninth, WSU loaded the bases and Trojan, who also drove in the initial go-ahead run in the seventh, smacked a single to right to score Davis for the win.

Zimmerman took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, when GVSU totaled four hits and scored twice to tie the game, erasing a 2-0 lead established by  Koster's solo homer in the second and Zimmerman's RBI single in the fourth.

Hurley (4-1) picked up the win in relief after Zimmerman pitched six strong innings and Brock Bates allowed just one hit over two frames.

SATURDAY, MAY 12 - GRAND VALLEY STATE 21, WAYNE STATE 6: The teams combined for 32 hits in the slugfest to decide the tournament championship.  Davis had two hits for Wayne State as did Phil Swanson.  J.J. Ciennik finished 1-for-3 with two RBI.

Mike Nadratowski went 5-for-6 with two RBI and three runs scored.  Brugnoni hit a grand slam and finished with six RBI, while Zak and Steve Anderson totaled three hits apiece and combined for seven RBI and eight runs.

The Lakers also drew 10 walks off six Warrior pitchers.  Kirk Stambaugh took the loss (1-3) after allowing five runs in the first inning, while Chris Whitney (1-1) allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits over five innings.


ALL-GLIAC HONORS
Five Warriors were voted to the All-GLIAC Second Team, and two others received Honorable Mention accolades.  Guenther was joined on the Second Team by four of his senior teammates – Andrew Ciennik, Trojan, Vesey and Hurley.

Guenther leads the GLIAC with 49 runs scored, his second consecutive 40+ run season.  He is hitting .309 this season including a .336 mark in conference play.  Guenther also leads the GLIAC with 34 walks, the most by a Warrior since 2000.  Defensively he ranks second in runners caught stealing (13).

Andrew Ciennik is having the most productive season of his four-year career in 2012, batting .357 with 30 runs scored and 25 RBI.  He has a .453 on-base percentage, seventh-best in the GLIAC.  Ciennik set three WSU career records this season (sacrifice bunts, sacrifice flies, infield assists) and ranks among the top eight all-time in games played and hits.

Trojan is on pace for this third straight season with a batting average above .300, as he enters the NCAA Regional with a team-best and career-high 37 RBI, tied for sixth-most in the conference.  Earlier this season he put together a 19-game hitting streak, the longest by a Warrior in 2012.

Despite having his 14-game hitting streak snapped Saturday, Vesey ranks sixth in the GLIAC with a team-leading .375 batting average.  Vesey is also 10th in the conference in slugging percentage (.508) and eighth in RBI (34).  He hit .433 in conference games this season, second-highest in the GLIAC.  Vesey is Wayne State's active leader with a .330 career batting average, and is tied for fifth all-time in runs scored (126).

With 11 saves this season and 19 in his career, Hurley set both the single-season and career records at Wayne State.  He ranks second to Zambron in the GLIAC in saves, achieving six of them during conference play.  Hurley has pitched in 21 games and is averaging one strikeout per inning.  He has a 5.00 strikeout/walk ratio.

Pierse and Vasiliauskas were the Honorable Mention recipients for Wayne State.  Pierse has a 7-1 record in nine starts and a 2.56 ERA, seventh-lowest in the conference.  Vasiliauskas has worked primarily in relief in his first season as a Warrior and has 29 strikeouts with a 3.32 ERA in 40.2 innings.


GLIAC TOURNAMENT HONORS
Andrew Ciennik, Trojan, Koster and Pierse were all named to the GLIAC All-Tournament Team.  Ciennik led WSU with 11 hits and a .478 average in the six games, while Koster had eight hits and drove in a team-best eight runs.  Trojan went 6-for-22 and played errorless defense at third base, and Pierse's threw a three-hitter with seven strikeouts Thursday against Lake Erie.