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DETROIT -- The Wayne State University baseball team (13-4, 2-0 GLIAC) will play No. 12 Grand Valley (9-5, 0-0 GLIAC) in a three-game series this weekend on the campus of Davenport University as GLIAC play continues. The series shifted to the Farmers Athletic Complex as natural grass playing fields continue to recover from the harsh Winter season. The two teams will play a doublehader on Friday beginning at 3 PM and a nine-inning contest on Saturday at 11 AM.
GAME STORYLINES
The Warriors will look to add to its impressive start with three games against longtime GLIAC powerhouse Grand Valley this weekend. The Lakers advanced to the College World Series Finals last season and hung tough with top-seeded Tampa. GVSU opens its GLIAC schedule on Thursday against Hillsdale.
Eric Cunningham entered Thursday as the GLIAC leader in RBI with 24, one more than the Lakers' Giancarlo Brugnoni.
Jeremy Carrell leads the GLIAC with his .510 batting average.
2014 RUSSMATT INVITATIONAL
WSU went 9-4 during its Spring Break trip at the 2014 RussMatt Invitational. That brings WSU's record to 29-17 in the event. Last season, the Warriors went 7-4. WSU went 6-3 in 2012, 6-2 in 2011 and 1-4 in 2010.
SCOUTING GRAND VALLEY
GVSU entered the week at 9-5 overall with its first GLIAC contest against Hillsdale schedule for Thursday. Three Lakers are hitting over .400 (Jesse Abel - .479, Jamie Potts - .423, Giancarlo Brugnoni - .415). Brugnoni collected the leagues first Player of the Week honor. Brugnoni is slugging .878 with five home runs to go with his 23 RBI. Evan Niefeldt is 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA while Aaron Jensen is 2-2 with a 3.04 ERA. Chris Ripple has collected three saves. Second year head coach Jamie Detillion has a tough act to follow, as he was named GLIAC and Midwest Region Coach of the Yea in 2013. The three wins GVSU picked up at the CWS matched the program's high mark.
ALL-TIME SERIES
GVSU leads the all-time series 86-49. Coach Kelley is 9-21 all-time against the Lakers and 1-8 in neutral site games. The two teams have met nine times in the postseason and GVSU has taken eight of those meetings. Last season, WSU went 1-3 against GVSU including an 11-0 defeat in the GLIAC Tournament to end the Green & Gold's season.
LAST TIME OUT
WSU opened its GLIAC schedule with two wins over Ashland (10-7, 0-2 GLIAC) on Tuesday evening inside V.A. Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio. The two games were moved due to poor field conditions and lingering winter weather. The WSU offense exploded in game one for a 12-5 win and pulled out a nine-inning win, 8-5, in game two.WSU
NEXT UP
WSU is scheduled to host four consecutive games, first against Ashland on Wednesday at 2 PM. However, field conditions may force the teams to meet at another neutral site.
PRESEASON POLL
WSU was predicted to finish second in the GLIAC as voted on by the league's coaches during March 4th's release of the GLIAC Preseason Coaches Poll. Last year's regular season and tournament champions Grand Valley were crowned the preseason champions after going 38-19 in 2013. The Lakers garnered 118 points and eight first-place votes. The Warriors collected 106 points and two first-place votes to finish second in the poll. Ashland also picked up two first-place votes to go with its 101 points. Ohio Dominican (90) and Saginaw Valley (74) rounded out the top five.
RUCH TAKES AIM AT HISTORY
Clayton Ruch has already collected eight saves this season, allowing just six hits over his 10 appearances. Ruch also picked up wins over Seton Hill and Ashland. Ruch needs one more save to match the program record of 19 held by Billy Hurley (2010-2012). Ruch is currently tied for second with Jon Venuto (1999-2002). He also has his sights set on the program's single-season record of 11 saves. He has not allowed a baserunner in six of his 10 outings. Opponents are hitting just .162 against the sidearmer In addition, Ruch leads the GLIAC and the nation with his eight saves. The top two save totals in the GLIAC are held by Brad Zambron (GVSU) with 16 in 2012 and 13 in 2013.
WARRIOR SKIPPER
Ryan Kelley, who served six seasons on the Warriors' staff including three as WSU's pitching coach prior to being named head coach in September 2008, enters his sixth year at the helm in the 2014 season. Kelley is the ninth head coach in the 73-year history of the Wayne State University baseball program. In 2013, Wayne State won 30+ games for the fourth consecutive season and for the seventh time in school history. Coach Kelley aided in the development of a senior class that won 134 games over the past four seasons and his .608 (171-110) career winning percentage leads all WSU baseball coaches. Brad Guenther was named GLIAC Player of the Year, which was the first such honor for a Warrior since 2005. WSU had four All-GLIAC First Team selections (Brad Guenther, Alex Pierse, Kenny Davis and Kasey Koster). Guenther was also a Tino Martinez Award semifinalist, which is given to the top DII baseball player in the country. In addition, Alex Pierse, Brad Guenther and Kasey Koster all collected NCBWA, Daktronics and ABCA/Rawlings All-Midwest honors.
2013 RECAP
In 2013, the Wayne State University baseball program won 30 or more games for the seventh time in school history and the fifth time in the last six years. The Warriors finished with a 21-10 GLIAC record and clinched a berth in the GLIAC Tournament for the ninth time in the last 10 years. However, WSU missed out on the NCAA Tournament after winning just one game at GLIAC Tournament as the No. 2 seed.
The Green & Gold will need to replace one of the best players in program history in catcher Brad Guenther, who was the 2013 GLIAC Player of the Year and a Tino Martinez Award Semifinalist.
In addition, the Warriors will be replacing its top two starting pitchers in southpaw Alex Pierse and right-hander Ethan Vasiliauskas. The two combined for 22 starts and a 14-5 record. Also moving on due to graduation will be shortstop Kenny Davis (2013 All-GLIAC First Team), outfielder Kasey Koster (All-GLIAC First Team) and right-handed pitcher Greg Spiess (23 career starts).
STAFF ADDITIONS
Coach Kelley welcomes two new staff additions for the 2014 season. Aaron Hepner was named Assistant Coach & Recruiting Coordinator while John DiLaura will also serve as an assistant coach this season. Hepner joined the WSU Baseball staff in August of 2013 as an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator. He has spent the previous five seasons at Eastern Michigan working with former Warrior head coach Jay Alexander. DiLaura joined the Wayne State University baseball program as a volunteer assistant coach in June 2013. A three-year letterwinner at the University of Michigan, DiLaura graduated in the spring of 2013 with a General Studies degree with an emphasis on business and history.
WSU BASEBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
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HARWELL FIELD
The Wayne State University Department of Athletics in conjunction with the Ernie Harwell Estate and the Ernie Harwell Foundation announced today the establishment of the Harwell Field Project. This project is an outreach effort to build a baseball stadium in recognition of Ernie and Lula "Lulu" Harwell. As a tribute to that long partnership between the famed Tiger broadcaster and his wife Lula "Lulu", the campaign is to name the field in their shared honor. They were married for 62 years and this endeavor is as much an acknowledgment of his legendary career as it is her work "behind the scenes" to build a marriage for which all of Michigan benefited.
MLB WARRIORS
WSU currently has three alumni in the professional ranks. Former WSU right-hander Anthony Bass, a non-roster invitee to the 2011 San Diego Padres spring training camp, made his major league debut June 13, 2011, at Coors Field in Colorado. He picked up the win after five strong innings, allowing just one run on five hits as the Padres defeated the Rockies, 3-1. In 2012 Bass started 15 games for the Padres while battling injuries throughout the course of the year. He won two games but logged nearly 100 innings and will compete for a spot in the San Diego rotation in 2013. Prior to the 2014 season, Bass was traded to the Houston Astros. A fixture on the WSU pitching staff from 2006-08, Bass was an All-American in 2008 and the GLIAC Pitcher of the Year. Selected by the Padres in the fifth round (165th overall) in 2008, Bass was the first Warrior drafted since Steve Squires in 2005, and the highest-drafted player in program history.
In the 28th round of the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft, senior right-hander Brett Shankin was selected by the Seattle Mariners with the 843rd overall pick on June 7, becoming the first Warrior to be drafted since Anthony Bass in 2008. He reported to the Clinton LumberKings of the MidWest League and closed his 2012 campaign with the High Desert Mavericks both Class A teams. In 2013, he split time with the Jackson Generals (AA) and the High Desert Mavericks (Advanced A). An All-GLIAC and All-Region selection in 2011, Shankin went 7-3 with a 2.79 ERA in 15 appearances in his final collegiate season. He led the WSU staff with 70 strikeouts, posted the third-best strikeout/walk ratio (4.67) in school history, and held opposing hitters to a .215 average. Shankin won 18 games in his four-year career at Wayne State, sixth-most in program history, and posted a 2.28 strikeout/walk ratio in 217.2 career innings.
Former Wayne State University standout, Brad Guenther, has signed a contract with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim organization. He will report to the team's rookie league team, the AZL Angels in Tempe, Ariz. The senior catcher was the 2013 GLIAC Player of the Year. He was the fourth Wayne State baseball student-athlete to receive the Player of the Year award and first since Frank Jeney in 2005. Guenther was also a Tino Martinez Award semifinalist, which is presented to the most outstanding player in DII college baseball. The annual honor is named after the former University of Tampa Spartan, United States Olympian, first round draft pick and MLB All-Star, Tino Martinez.
