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Wayne State University Athletics

2026 Baseball Roster

David Thurman
Izzy Rincon
Izzy Rincon
Izzy Rincon
Taylor Carrow
David Thurman
David Thurman
Findlay Sports Information
David Thurman
David Thurman

24 Bennett Hitzelberger

24 Bennett Hitzelberger

  • Position:
    1B/DH/LHP
  • Height:
    6-2
  • Weight:
    212
  • Letters:
    3
  • Class:
    Senior
  • Hometown:
    Richmond, Mich.
  • High School:
    Richmond

Summary

Biography

Career Notes:  Played in 116 games (110 starts) across three seasons with the WSU baseball program ... is the active career leader in batting average (.346), fielding chances (796), putouts (753), and fielding percentage (.990 on 796 chances) ... named to the GLIAC All-Tournament Team following 2023 conference tournament in Lansing, Mich. ... was on the GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team following both the 2024 and 2025 seasons ... selected First Team All-GLIAC in 2024 and Honorable Mention All-GLIAC in 2025 ... a two-time GLIAC Player of the Week recipient, with both occurring in 2024 ... two-time recipient of the D2 ADA Academic Achievement Award (2023-24 and 2024-25) ... awarded CSC Academic All-District honors after the 2025 campaign.

2025:  2024-25 recipient of the D2 ADA Academic Achievement Award ... awarded CSC Academic All-District honors ... named to the GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team ... named Honorable Mention All-GLIAC ... played in 52 of the team's 55 games with 50 starts, including 38 at first base and 12 as the designated hitter ... nine of those 12 starts as the DH came in his final 11 games of the season as he suffered an injury at Findlay on April 22 while pitching and could no longer play in the field effectively ... the three-hole hitter in the lineup is often referred to as the team's best overall hitter and Hitzelberger made more starts there than any other player on the team with 17 ... only made six starts lower than the cleanup spot, including five in the five hole and one in the sixth spot ... paced the team in multiple offensive categories including batting average for the second straight season (.349, 65-of-186), OPS among regulars (.905), at-bats, hits, doubles (15), total bases (90), and slugging percentage among regulars (.484) ... also notched 36 runs scored (tied-for-second on the team), two triples (tied-for-third), two home runs, 32 RBI (second), 25 walks (third), one hit-by-pitch. a .421 on-base percentage, four sac flies (third), one sacrifice hit, and 15 stolen bases (second, 15-for-18) ... only struck out 13 times on the year while that .349 average was good for eighth in the league ... racked up more multi-hit games than any other Warrior with 19, including 12 with two hits, five with three base knocks and two with four hits, two of Wayne State's three (Mason McGuire) ... those four-hit performances came on March 7 against Point Park in game two of the doubleheader (4-for-5, 3 R, 2 RBI, 1 2B, 1 SB) and March 28 at Purdue Northwest (4-for-4, 3 R, 2 RBI, 1 3B, 1 HR, 2 BB, 1 IBB) ... the second of those two efforts raised his average to the .400 mark or above it for the first of three instances ... his next contest (game one of DH on March 29 at PNW), he went 2-for-4 with a double, which lifted his clip to its highest point all season at .406 ... was also even with the .400 mark following the home game against Findlay on April 1 in which he was 2-for-4 again with a base on balls ... eight multi-RBI games were tied with McGuire for third on the squad, including six with two RBI, one with three driven in and one four-RBI game ... longest hitting streak and reached-base streak were both eight games, a stretch that happened on March 22-April 4 ... hit a blistering .455 (15-for-33) in that span with eight runs scored, six RBI, three doubles, one triple, two home runs, five walks, one intentional walk, two stolen bases, and only two strikeouts ... hit .350 (7-for-20) in the GLIAC Tournament with six runs scored, two doubles, nine total bases, three walks, only two strikeouts, and one stolen base in three attempts ... through 10 league tournament games for his career (2023 & 2025), he's hitting .342 (13-for-38)  ... also made first three career starts as a pitcher with an 8.53 ERA and 0-1 record in six and one-third innings pitched ... first of those three outings came on March 15 in game one of the doubleheader against Minnesota Duluth (2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 SO) ... best appearance was his next one, March 23 at Florida Southern (4.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO, 69 pitches) ... the third and final effort of that trio was on April 22 at Findlay (0.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 17 pitches) ... fielded at a .986 percentage on 296 chances with 277 putouts, 15 assists and four errors while being involved in 15 double plays, which was second on the team ... Game-By-Game Stats.

2024:  Named to the GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team ... selected First Team All-GLIAC ... was off to a red-hot start before suffering a season-ending wrist injury after being hit by a pitch on April 7 at home against Saginaw Valley State ... had recorded a hit in all but five of his 30 games played and reached base safely in all but three of them for a .387 batting average (41-for-106) ... won two of the league's first six Player of the Week awards before being sidelined ... received GLIAC Player of the Week honors on March 25 thanks to a .500 average (7-for-14) in four Wayne State wins ... garnered GLIAC Player of the Week distinction for February 19 after hitting .471 across four games (8-for-17), including slugging his first collegiate home run against Hillsdale on Feb. 17 ... for the season, also accumulated 26 runs, 11 doubles, two home runs, 24 RBI, 58 total bases, 18 walks, four hit-by-pitches, one sacrifice fly, two sacrifice hits and one stolen base in three attempts ... made all 30 starts at first base including 28 as the vaunted three-hole hitter and two more in the second spot ... slugged .547 with a .488 on-base percentage for an OPS of 1.035, all three of which were first on the squad ... had the longest hitting streak of any Warrior at 12 games (March 13-April 5) ... racked up 12 multi-hit games, five with two or more RBI and a reached-base streak of 12 (fourth on the team) ... maintained a .404 batting average through the first 16 games of the season and never dipped below .381 after that ... defensively, registered a fielding percentage of .996 (tied-for-seventh in program history) with 242 putouts and 11 assists to just one error on 254 chances ... contributed to 20 double plays ... 2023-24 recipient of the D2 ADA Academic Achievement Award ... Game-By-Game Stats.

2023:  Named to the GLIAC All-Tournament Team (.333, 6-for-18, 2 R, 1 2B, 5 RBI, 2 BB, .770 OPS) ... played in 34 games as a rookie, 30 of which were as a starter, including 29 at first base and one as the designated hitter ... hit .297 (30-for-101) with 16 runs scored, seven doubles, 23 RBI, 37 total bases, 13 walks, three hit-by-pitches, two sac flies, and a sacrifice hit ... registered seven multi-hit games and five multi-RBI games ... longest hitting streak was four games and best reached-base streak was eight in a row (April 28-May 7) ... drove in a pair three times and had three RBI in two contests ... tallied three base knocks in three games ... went 3-for-5 in the third game of his career, Feb. 26 against Hillsdale, with a run scored and three driven in ... went 3-for-4 vs. Purdue Northwest on April 7 with an RBI and 3-for-5 against the Pride on May 13 in the GLIAC Tournament with a double and three driven in ... defensively, posted a .988 fielding percentage on 246 chances with 234 putouts and nine assists ... Game-By-Game Stats.

High School:  A 2022 graduate of Richmond High School ... was a three-time letterwinner (2019, 2021 and 2022) for the Blue Devils, since the 2020 season was canceled ... served as a team captain for head coach Scott Evans ... helped Richmond finish third in the Blue Water Area Conference (BWAC) and win both the district and regional finals ... the Blue Devils finished with a record of 30-6 in 2021 ... appeared in 14 games and went 10-0 in 60 innings ... struck out 91 batters with 23 walks and posted a 1.10 ERA ... also hit four home runs as a junior ... earned First Team All-BWAC honors in both 2019 and 2021 ... was a First Team All-District honoree as a freshman and as a junior ... received All-Macomb County recognition in both 2019 and 2021 ... was a Division 3 All-State First Team honoree in 2021 from the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association (MHSBCA) ... participated in the MHSBCA All-Star Game played at Comerica Park ... also lettered in football ... earned First Team All-BWAC and Second Team All-Macomb County honors in 2021 ... had three receptions for 87 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Imlay City ... carries a 3.99 GPA ... played summer baseball for DBacks Elite hitting .500 (30-for-60) in 2021 with 15 walks to two strikeouts, while recording 11 stolen bases.

Personal:  Full name -- Bennett B. Hitzelberger ... born on July 21, 2004, in Detroit ... son of Robert and Ann Marie Hitzelberger ... has a younger brother, Charlie, and two younger sisters, Lucie and Mckinley ... is majoring in Finance ... named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll (term GPA 3.5+) for Fall 2022 (4.00), Winter 2023, Fall 2023 (4.00), Winter 2024, Fall 2024, and Winter 2025 ... inductee into WSU’s inaugural (2024-25) Chi Alpha Sigma Athlete Honor Society class.
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Stat Snapshot (Career)

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Season Stats

Season:
2026
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Career Stats

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Historical Player Information

  • 24

    2023Freshman

    1B/LHP
    6'1" 182 lbs
    24
  • 24

    2024Sophomore

    1B
    6'1" 182 lbs
    24
  • 24

    2025Junior

    1B/DH/LHP
    6'2" 205 lbs
    24
  • 24

    2026Senior

    1B/DH/LHP
    6'2" 212 lbs
    24