DETROIT -- The Wayne State University baseball team (19-21 overall) is set for its final non-conference game of the 2025 regular season.  The Warriors will travel to Findlay (20-19 overall) on Tuesday for the regular season's third and final meeting between the two teams.  First pitch at Fifth Third Field is slated for 3 p.m.

Last Time Out
Wayne State is coming off a four-game series at ninth-ranked Grand Valley State on Thursday through Saturday in which it won one of the four contests.  That WSU victory came in game one of Friday's doubleheader, a 3-0 triumph over GVSU.  That outing, Wayne State's starter Gabe Nazelli (Farmington Hills, Mich. / Detroit Country Day) threw the first complete game shutout of his career.  Nazelli allowed seven hits with one free pass on an economic 78 pitches while facing 27 batters.  The Lakers were shutout for just the third time in 39 contests, their eight-game winning streak was snapped and it marked just their second home defeat of the season (12-2).

Offensively, Wayne State notched one run in the first, another in the fifth and a third in the sixth.  Bennett Hitzelberger (Richmond, Mich.) opened the Warriors' scoring in the initial inning thanks to a groundout to the shortstop that forced in Jacoby Dale (Roseville, Mich. [Spring Arbor/Henry Ford CC]).

Then four innings later, Ty Garza (Grosse Ile, Mich. [Barton College]) hit a solo home run to right field, his second of the season.  In the sixth, WSU tacked on an insurance run when Drew Hill (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North) doubled in Hitzelberger from second base.

Scouting Findlay
Findlay is coached by fourth-year leader Matt Palm, who is 98-94 in those three-plus seasons.  Prior to Findlay, Palm spent 23 years at Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio where he coached for 15 seasons.  Palm led the Student Prince, who were consistently ranked among the country's top 25, to a record of 459-209-2 (.685 winning percentage).  They won five Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) regular-season championships, four OAC tournament titles and made six NCAA regional appearances, including a trip to the NCAA DII World Series in 2010.

This season, Palm's Oilers are hitting .266 with a team ERA of 6.36.  Individually, starting on the offensive side, three everyday players are above the .300 mark including Keelan Daniel (.343), Casey Maruniak (.341) and Luke Senften (.318).  Maruniak also leads the way in runs scored (34), home runs (8), RBI (36), total bases (76), and stolen bases (37-of-39).  Senften has notched 11 doubles, five players have one triple apiece and Keelan has walked 32 times with 11 hit-by-pitches, just as many as Mike Sciortino.

On the mound, UF's best pitcher has been Camdon Tuttle with a 2.22 ERA through 24 and one-third innings.  Tuttle is one of two Oilers with a sub-4.00 ERA along with Sebastian Stevens (3.91 ERA, 23.0 IP).  Carson Mellott and Colin Becker have a team-best four victories (4-4 and 4-3, respectively) while Ethan Mohr is on top of the strikeouts category with 47.

Previous Meeting - Baseball Blows Out Findlay for Seventh Win in Last Eight Games
Leading 21-0 at one point, Wayne State rolled past Findlay and avenged its loss to the Oilers from a week before in Detroit.

Wayne State notched one run in the first, three in the third, three in the fourth, three in the sixth, and 11 in the seventh.  The Warriors racked up a season-high 13 walks, their most in over six years since 16 at Lake Erie on April 2, 2019.

At the top of the WSU lineup, Drew Hill (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North) didn't record a hit, but walked three times, nearly as many as Findlay's five.  Hill was one of three Warriors with multiple bases on balls along with Caleb Sanders (Eastpointe, Mich. / Detroit Edison Public School Academy [Dayton]) and Noah Murciano (Richmond Hill, Ont. / Bill Crothers S.S. [Sussex County C.C. / Coppin State]).

Run production wise, Reagan Paulina (Highland, Mich. / Detroit Catholic Central [Oakland]) and Sanders each turned in big days.  Paulina went 3-for-4 with one run scored, six RBI, one double, and a sacrifice fly.  In his own right, Sanders was 2-for-3 with four runs, five RBI, two walks, and a sacrifice hit.  Owen Tuccinardi (Ann Arbor, Mich.) also notched a trio of RBI and Bennett Hitzelberger (Richmond, Mich.) drove in a pair.

On the mound, Miles Jamieson (Grosse Pointe, Mich. / Grosse Pointe South [Mid Michigan / Davidson]) made his first start as a Warrior with two innings pitched, one hit allowed and two walks.

First out of the bullpen, Keegan Pulford-Thorpe (Aurora, Ont. / Newmarket [Central Florida / Georgia Highlands College]) garnered his first pitching victory in the Green & Gold with four shutout frames.  Pulford-Thorpe gave up three hits with one free pass and five punchouts.

Then came Coy Plummer (New Hudson, Mich. / South Lyon) who secured the longest scoreless outing of his career, two innings.  Plummer surrendered just two hits with two strikeouts and no walks.

Wayne State's fourth and final pitcher of the day, Oscar Pace (Brighton, Mich. / Hartland) pitched the ninth for his third appearance of the season.