Baseball 4/30/2026 9:00:00 AM Cooper Weidenthaler, Assistant Director for Media Relations

Wayne State Baseball and Rollins to Square Off in Top-20 Showdown

The Warriors come in at No. 14 according to the NCBWA while the Tars are ranked 20th.

DETROIT -- Having concluded GLIAC play for the 2026 regular season, the 14th-ranked Wayne State University baseball team (34-10 overall) will fill this week's void with a four-game series at No. 20 Rollins (30-12) on Friday, May 1, through Sunday, May 3. Coming out of the imposing Sunshine State Conference (SSC), the Tars came into this week in second place for that league at 20-7 in SSC play.

The contests will be played at Alfond Stadium in Winter Park, Fla. Game one on Friday is scheduled for 3 p.m., while Saturday's doubleheader and Sunday's single game are slated for a noon beginning. The Tars and Warriors have met just twice in their history, with both occurrences during the 2012 campaign. Rollins nabbed victories in both contests, which both happened in the span of a week, by scores of 14-3 and 8-1.

Last Time Out
Wayne State concluded the home portion of its regular season by hosting Senior Day last Sunday at Harwell Field against Purdue Northwest. After losing all three games of the weekend set prior to Sunday, the Pride spoiled the proceedings with a 5-4 victory to snap WSU's eight-game winning streak. Eight Warriors were recognized in a pre-game ceremony, including Nick Baker (Brighton, Mich. / Brighton [Lansing C.C.]), Gabe Nazelli (Farmington Hills, Mich. / Detroit Country Day), TJ McAllister (St. Clair Shores, Mich. / South Lake), Macio Miller (Kimball, Mich. / Marysville [Jackson C.C.]), Tony Hatzigeorgiou (Oxford, Mich.), Bennett Hitzelberger (Richmond, Mich.), Ethan Getting (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Portage Northern [Purdue Northwest], and Philip Miller (Flat Rock, Mich. / Woodhaven [Schoolcraft C.C. / Tusculum]).

WSU opened the scoring for the contest in the bottom of the second when Hitzelberger bashed the first pitch he saw over the right field wall for a solo home run. The homer was Hitzelberger's eighth of the campaign, which is good enough for third on the squad.

PNW went on to tally the next three runs to obtain a 3-1 advantage entering the final three frames. After a series of opportunities for both sides that went by the wayside in the seventh and eighth, Purdue Northwest pounced again for two runs in the ninth to lead 5-1. However, the Green and Gold were not done just yet, as Brady Blakita (Canton, Mich. / Detroit Catholic Central) led off the bottom of the ninth with a solo home run to right field for his fifth homer of 2026. Three straight Warriors then reached via a single and two walks, before a run-scoring infield single from Caleb Sanders (Eastpointe, Mich. / Detroit Edison Public School Academy [Dayton]) cut the deficit to 5-3. A fielder's choice made it 5-4, but that would be as close as Wayne State would get.

Nazelli started for the Green and Gold and went five innings on four hits allowed and three earned runs, while striking out two and walking three. Macio Miller went the next two frames scoreless despite scattering four hits and a walk (three strikeouts). McAllister was next and he went one inning with two hits and two earned runs. Finally, Will DeMasse (Macomb, Mich. / Dakota) finished up the pitching duties for Wayne State with an inning of scoreless baseball on one hit.

The Road Ahead
Postseason action is around the corner for WSU, as playoff baseball will begin with the GLIAC Tournament on Thursday, May 7. If the Warriors continue to survive and advance in the double-elimination gauntlet, they would play all the way through Sunday, May 10. All games will be played at UWM Field in Utica, Mich. Wayne State can do no worse than the No. 2 seed for the tournament. The opening-day schedule will be released upon completion of the regular season this Sunday, May 3.

The Green and Gold are currently the No. 14 squad in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) poll, which is the same spot the team was in last week. That placing puts them second in the NCAA Midwest Region rankings once again this week. The top two schools will once again host a portion of the NCAA Midwest Regional between Thursday, May 14, and Sunday, May 17.

This season is slightly different from years prior, as an eighth squad from the region will make the event. Seeds No. 1, 4, 5, and 8 will convene at one site, while seeds No. 2, 3, 6, and 7 will meet at the other location. The Midwest Region is one of four in the nation that will consist of eight programs, while the other four regions will consist of seven teams. There will be 56 squads in total for 2026.

Meanwhile, Rollins checks in 20th nationally and third in the South Region. Selection Sunday this season will be Sunday, May 10, at the conclusion of each conference tournament. Wayne State will be looking to return to Harwell Field for playoff action for the first time since the 2022 campaign.

Twice is Nice
Over this past weekend, Wayne State tossed its second no hitter of the season by blanking Purdue Northwest 3-0 in a seven-inning no-no in game one of Saturday's doubleheader. Evan Langlois (Brownstown, Mich. / Woodhaven) and Philip Miller, teammates at Woodhaven High School, combined to complete the job. Langlois went the first two frames, while Miller cleaned up the final five. The only baserunner for PNW was via a hit by pitch to begin the top of the third inning. That runner was later erased on a double play.

The efforts last Saturday joined the performance that Will Lowery (Grosse Ile, Mich. [Kalamazoo Valley C.C.]) had back on March 20 at Parkside. Lowery's no hitter was of the nine-inning variety and included 10 strikeouts.

It is believed to be the first time in Wayne State baseball program history that two no hitters have been thrown in one season. It was also the second seven-inning no-no of PNW in the last three seasons. The Pride were the victims in 2024 during Karter Fitzpatrick's perfect game on Saturday, May 4.

Scouting Rollins
Rollins has won its past three contests after a dominating sweep at Eckerd this past weekend. The Tars out-scored EC by a 62-15 margin and scored at least 17 runs in all three games. At home, Rollins is 18-7. They are coached by Jon Sjogren, who has been in the head coaching role since the 2006 season. Sjogren has guided the Tars to 558 victories in his 20 seasons at the helm of the RC baseball program.

The Tars have a team batting average of .291 (408-for-1,400) and are led by the trio of redshirt junior Collin Hughes (.382 AVG), senior Matthew Mateo (.345 AVG), and redshirt senior Jimmy Thies (.323 AVG). Hughes, a catcher, leads the squad in OPS (1.035), hits (52), and doubles (12), while Mateo brings the power with a team-best .566 slugging percentage and eight home runs. Additionally, junior Connor O'Sullivan owns the team lead in runs scored (39), with junior Jayden Brown driving in a squad-best 39 runs.

RC has a staff ERA of 3.91, which is not far off of WSU's team mark of 3.74. In a rather rare instance, two regular starting pitchers for Rollins have respective ERA's under three. They are redshirt sophomore Noah Greenseid (2.51) and junior Brett Dennis (2.83). They have each made 12 starts apiece. Both Greenseid and Dennis have the top two strikeout marks as well, with the latter 54 punchouts one ahead of the former's 53. In terms of relief pitching, junior AJ Seymour and freshman JR Struk have combined for nine of the Tars' 12 saves (five and four, respectively).

Next Up
As stated above, the next action Wayne State will see will be in the GLIAC Tournament on Thursday, May 7, at UWM Field in Utica, Mich. Opponent and time are to be determined at the conclusion of the conference schedule for the regular season.

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Players Mentioned

#25 Nick Baker: LHP; 6' 3"; Redshirt Junior; L/L

#5 Brady Blakita: 2B; 5' 8"; Junior; S/R

#34 Will DeMasse: RHP; 6' 0"; Junior; R/R

#15 Ethan Getting: RHP; 6' 2"; Senior; R/R

#9 Tony Hatzigeorgiou: 3B; 6' 1"; Senior; R/R

#24 Bennett Hitzelberger: 1B/LF/LHP; 6' 2"; Senior; L/L

#20 Evan Langlois: RHP; 6' 4"; Redshirt Sophomore; R/R

#12 TJ McAllister: RHP; 6' 1"; Graduate Student; L/R

#3 Macio Miller: RHP; 6' 3"; Graduate Student; R/R

#17 Gabe Nazelli: RHP; 6' 3"; Graduate Student; L/R

Players Mentioned

#25 Nick Baker
: 6' 3"; Redshirt Junior; L/L
: LHP

#5 Brady Blakita
: 5' 8"; Junior; S/R
: 2B

#34 Will DeMasse
: 6' 0"; Junior; R/R
: RHP

#15 Ethan Getting
: 6' 2"; Senior; R/R
: RHP

#9 Tony Hatzigeorgiou
: 6' 1"; Senior; R/R
: 3B

#24 Bennett Hitzelberger
: 6' 2"; Senior; L/L
: 1B/LF/LHP

#20 Evan Langlois
: 6' 4"; Redshirt Sophomore; R/R
: RHP

#12 TJ McAllister
: 6' 1"; Graduate Student; L/R
: RHP

#3 Macio Miller
: 6' 3"; Graduate Student; R/R
: RHP

#17 Gabe Nazelli
: 6' 3"; Graduate Student; L/R
: RHP