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DETROIT -- The Wayne State University baseball team (2-0) opened its season with two lopsided wins over St. Joseph's in Florence, Ky. by a combined score of 24-7. WSU will head south for better weather and 13 games in nine days as part of the 2014 RussMatt Invitational.
GAME STORYLINES
WSU Baseball will participate in its fifth RussMatt Invitational and carries a 20-13 all-time record 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. The Green & Gold will meet Lewis, Missouri-St. Louis, St. Joseph's, Wayne State College, Alderson Broaddus, Seton Hill and Minnesota Duluth. The Warriors have taken their last three season openers and are 9-4 on Opening Day during the past 11 seasons (WSU won a doubleheader against West Georgia in 2010).
SCOUTING THE FIELD
The Lewis University baseball team has been selected as the favorite to win the Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division title. The Flyers, ranked No. 30 team by Collegiate Baseball preseason poll, picked up 10 of the 16 first-place votes in the east and tallied 111 points overall. Tim McDonough, the 2013 GLVC Coach of the Year, guided the Flyers to a 33-18 record as they captured the 2013 GLVC East Division title and competed in their second-straight NCAA Midwest Regional. Lewis is 403 so far this season and have recent wins over Ashland and Findlay.
Missouri-St. Louis was picked to finish in a tie for second place in the West Division of the Great Lakes Valley Conference preseason poll. UMSL is coming off a 28-19 record last season, including a 22-10 GLVC mark. Under the direction of 29th-year head coach Jim Brady, the Tritons return four players who earned all-GLVC honors a year ago. The Tritons had their opening series with Minnesota-Crookston cancelled and will open the season on Florida.
Saint Joseph's College took four fist place votes in the GLVC Preseason Poll and finished as the second-place team in the GLVC East. The Pumas will be led by the GLVC's best pitcher in Jordan Peterson who became the third pitcher under the direction of Head Coach Rick O' Dette to earn the league's Pitcher of the Year honors. O'Dette enters his 14th season with the program and has compiled a record of 390-307-3 (247-192 GLVC). SJC is 2-4 after dropping two games to WSU in Kentucky.
Wayne State College tied for fourth in the 2014 NSIC Preseason Baseball Coaches Poll. The Wildcats, tied with Winona State after receiving 150 points in voting conducted by league coaches, return five position starters and four pitchers from last year's team that was 27-20 overall and finished sixth in the NSIC with an 18-12 league mark. WSC is 2-2 so far this season, splitting a series with Minot State.
Alderson Broaddus was tabbed to finish in third place in its first season as a member of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) following a 23-21 overall record last year. D2BaseballNews.com picked the ABU to win the GMAC title. The Battlers punctuated a 23-21 season in 2013 with a victory over Division I Youngstown State and return a young and talented core of underclassmen. The Battlers are 3-2 so far in 2014 and are coming off two wins at Bellarmine.
In their first season of PSAC play, the Seton Hill baseball team was selected to win the PSAC Western Division title. The Griffins capped the 2013 campaign atop the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference North Division with a 26-8 conference record. Seton Hill made its fourth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Atlantic Regional a season ago. SHU is 3-3 to beging 2014 with wins over Barton and Limestone College.
Minnesota Duluth was selected to finish sixth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll. Sophomore first baseman Alex Wojciechowski was tabbed the league's Preseason Player of the Year after an upstart rookie season at UMD. The Bulldogs were 14-26 overall and 14-10 in the NSIC last season. UMD will open its season in Florida with Northwood.
LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State opened the 2014 season in Kentucky with a doubleheader against GLVC opponent St. Joseph's (2-4) on March 1 at UCMC Stadium. WSU took game one 12-4 and game two 12-3. Zimmerman went 3.2 innings for the win, striking out seven and allowing two earned runs on five hits. Jackson was solid out of the bullpen, tossing 4.1 innings, allowing one run and striking out two batters. Carrell, Rodery and Walker collected multi-hit games while Cunningham drove in four runs to lead the Warrior offense.
Alex Kinch (1-0) went six innings and allowed three earned runs on five hits. Walker went 3-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored including a game-tying solo home run. The March 2 series finale was cancelled due to inclement weather.
NEXT UP
After WSU's Spring Break trip, the Warriors will begin GLIAC play with two games at Ashland on March 19.
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.
WARRIOR DEBUTS
Eight Warriors made their Green & Gold debuts this past weekend in Florence, Ky. against St. Joseph's.
Zach Johnson,
Cole Clifton,
Griffin Harms,
Dennis Olszewski,
Nathan Manis,
Chris Horvath and
Randy Kuzdak all played in their first games with the program.
WALKER'S SPARK
Senior utility player
Cameron Walker went 5-for-9 (.556) with three runs scored and six RBI in his opening weekend helping the Warriors go 2-0 with wins over St. Joseph's. Walker, playing just his fourth and fifth career games at third base, powered the WSU offense in two routs of the Pumas in Kentucky, totaling one home run, three doubles and finishing with a 1.222 slugging percentage.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Wayne State will meet Lewis and Alderson Broaddus for the first times in program history in Florida. The Warriors trail the all-time series with Missouri-St. Louis 0-1, St. Joseph's 4-5 but lead the all-time series with Minnesota Duluth 9-2, Wayne State College 1-0 and Seton Hill 1-0.
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 .601 (160-106) 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.
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here.
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 spily 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.
