DETROIT -- More All-Region honors rolled in for the Wayne State University baseball team on Monday afternoon.  Junior outfielder Drew Hill (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North), redshirt junior starting pitcher Will Lowery (Grosse Ile, Mich. [Kalamazoo Valley C.C.]) and senior utility player Bennett Hitzelberger (Richmond, Mich.) were recognized by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA).  Hill was featured on the First Team while Lowery and Hitzelberger were selected to the Second Team.

Drew Hill, the 2024 GLIAC Freshman Player of the Year and Second Team All-GLIAC performer saw a return to form in 2026.  That rookie season, Hill hit .327 before regressing to a .240 clip as a sophomore, but bounced back in a big way for his third go-around in the Green and Gold.  The Wayne State right fielder hit .393 (77-for-196) with 50 runs scored, 10 doubles, five triples, 11 home runs, 53 RBI, 130 total bases, 36 walks, 11 stolen bases (11-for-13), and a 1.144 OPS.  Having started all 53 of the Green and Gold's games, the only Warrior to do so, Hill registered multiple hits in a team-high 25 contests (six more than next-best mark) and three-base knocks in 11 contests (seven more than second-best total).  The left-handed slugger's longest hitting streak was 10 (tied-for-second on the team) and he reached base in as many as 22 in a row (third).  Hill was hitting as high as .445 in late April following a stretch in which he finished with at least two hits in six of seven games.

Following 57 wins in two seasons at Kalamazoo Valley Community College, the most in program history, Will Lowery took his talents to Detroit and quickly became the ace of the staff.  Lowery made 15 appearances, 13 starts (two complete games), with an 8-2 win-loss record, one save (2.2 IP vs. No. 6 GVSU to split series), 75 and one-third innings pitched, a 3.82 ERA, .250 batting average against, 60 strikeouts, and 18 walks.  The right-handed hurler gave up three earned runs or less in all but two of those 13 starts and two earned or fewer in eight of them, none of which were more impressive than his first career start in a GLIAC contest.  On March 20 at Parkside, Lowery went the nine-inning distance while recording Wayne State's first nine-inning no-hitter since 2019, and just the second in the last 22 years, with 119 pitches, one unearned run, one free pass, and 10 punchouts.  Not only did that effort garner him the GLIAC Pitcher of the Week distinction, but also NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week recognition.

Not much hasn't already been said about Bennett Hitzelberger -- one of the greatest players in program history, a three-time All-GLIAC honoree and a senior that spent his entire career in the Green and Gold.  A First Team recipient in 2024, the first baseman and left fielder secured back-to-back Honorable Mention nods.  A career .343 hitter in 168 games played, Hitzelberger's senior season may have been his best.  Having played in 52 of the team's 53 games with 51 starts (35 at 1B, 16 in LF), the southpaw hit .335 (63-for-188) with 53 runs scored, 16 doubles, four triples, nine home runs, 38 RBI, 114 total bases, 38 walks, two hit-by-pitches, and 22 stolen bases in 26 attempts.  Nineteen of those 52 games saw Hitzelberger finish with multiple hits including five at Roosevelt on April 17 and three against both Cal (Pa.) on March 14 and Purdue Northwest on April 24.  That five-hit effort marked the program's first five-hit performance in nearly five years.  Hitzelberger also registered nine multi-RBI games, the longest hitting streak of any Warrior at 12 contests as well as the squad's longest reached-base streak at 30.

Looking ahead to the 2027 season, the core of Wayne State's talent will start with Hill and Lowery playing in their final collegiate campaigns.  As for Hitzelberger, he leaves with 199 career hits and a .343 batting average.