Baseball 5/13/2014 8:52:00 AM Cameron Weidenthaler, Assistant SID

Baseball Begins Regional Play Against Drury

The Warriors will play in its fourth NCAA Regional in the past five seasons.

2014 Prospectus (PDF) | 2014 Media Guide | 2014 Stat Packet (PDF) | NCAA Stats | NCAA Regional Release | Tournament Central

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University baseball team (35-15) will be one of 48 teams beginning NCAA Midwest Regional play on Thursday. WSU will open against GLVC Champion Drury (41-11) on Thursday at 4 PM. The Warriors are making their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the past five seasons and enter with a 6-10 record all-time record in NCAA play. All regionals are double-elimination tournaments and will be played May 15-18. Regional champions will advance to the double-elimination championship finals May 24-31 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina. The finals will be hosted by the University of Mount Olive and the town of Cary, North Carolina.

Setting the Stage	Wayne State University Baseball at NCAA Midwest Regional
Dates	Tournament Schedule
Location	Evansville, Ind. (USI Baseball Field)
Web	Twitter: @WayneStWarriors \| #WarriorBSB
Live Stats	Click Here
Opponent Information	Tournament Central

GAME STORYLINES
Former WSU assistant football/baseball assistant coach is now an assistant coach for the Panthers. WSU eclipsed the 30-win mark for the eighth time in program history and sixth time in last seven years. The 34 regular season victories is a program record and the 35 overall wins matches the program record. The 22-9 GLIAC record makes it five straight seasons with at least 20 conference wins. The Warriors finished 15-1 at home this season, which is the best home winning percentage in program history and matches the second most home wins in program history.

SCOUTING THE FIELD
The top-seed in the region in Southern Indiana who will be handling the hosting duties. The Screaming Eagles enter the week at 41-11 and dropped two games to Quincy to bow out of the GLVC Tournament this past weekend. Head coach Tracy Archuleta is in his eighth season with USI and was named the 2010 ABCA DII National Coach of the Year. USI is led on offense by Kyle Kempf who is hitting .354 with 31 RBI and a .491 slugging percentage. As a team, USI is hitting .290 and have stolen 94 bases this season. Jonathon Wandling and Matt Bowles both have eight wins and Wandling leads the team with 75 strikeouts. Matt Chavarria has closed out 11 games this season. The staff carries a 2.52 ERA.

Grand Valley State enters after winning both GLIAC regular season and tournament champions with a 37-11 record. Head coach Jamie Detellion is in his second season with the team. The Lakers boast the GLIAC's all-time home run leader and GLIAC Player of the Year in Giancarlo Brugnoni who hit his 47th career long ball this past weekend. Jamie Potts is hitting .411 with 45 RBI while Brignoni leads the team with 16 home runs and 65 RBI this season. Kevin Zak has driven in 48 runs while hitting .374. As a team, GVSU is hitting .323. Evan Niefeldt was named the GLIAC Pitcher of the Year and is 8-1 with a 2.42 ERA this season. Sean Clancy also has eight wins. Aaron Jensen leads the team with 41 strikeouts and carries a team-low 1.95 ERA. The staff has an ERA of 3.27.

WSU's opening-round opponent, Drury, enters after winning the GLVC Tournament. The Panthers are 41-11 overall and head coach Scott Nasby is in second season with the program. GLVC Player of the Year Nick Thimesch is hitting .463 with 49 RBI and 30 stolen bases. As a team, DU is hitting .346 with 113 stolen bases. Will Landsheft (GLVC Pitcher of the Year), Kevin Sweeny and Trevor Richards all have eight wins and Landsheft leads the staff with 60 strikeouts. The staff has an ERA of 2.67.

Lake Erie is in the midst of its best season in program history. The Storm are 31-20 overall and fell to GVSU in Sunday's GLIAC Championship Round. Head coach Brian McGee is in his seventh season as the Storm's skipper. GLIAC Freshman of the Year Lucas Raley is hitting .360 with nine home runs and 44 RBI. As a team, LEC is hitting .261. D.J. Stastny is 7-1on the season while Brian Kilway leads the team with 51 punchouts. The staff has an ERA of 3.94.

Indianapolis enters the week 30-23 overall after going 1-2 in the GLVC Tournament this past weekend. The Greyhounds are led by head coach Gary Vaught who is in his 20th season with the program. Alex Ritchie is leading the team with his .374 batting average. Kenny Mahala leads the team with 49 RBI and is tied for the team lead with Zach Jacobs with eight home runs. As a team, UIndy is hitting .295 with 75 stolen bases. Four UIndy pitchers have four wins while Matthew Kaplanis leads the team with 50 strikeouts. The staff carries an ERA of 3.76.

ALL-TIME SERIES
WSU has an all-time record of 66-100 against the five other Midwest Regional teams.The Warriors are 2-3 against Southern Indiana, 49-89 against Grand Valley State, 2-2 against Drury, 11-4 against Lake Erie and 2-1 against Indianapolis.

LAST TIME OUT
The Warriors went 1-2 in the 2014 GLIAC Tournament with both loses coming against fifth-seeded Saginaw Valley State. WSU handled Ashland on Friday, 9-4.

GLIAC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Three Warriors were named to the GLIAC All-Tournament Team on May 11 after the completion of play in Xenia, Ohio at Grady's Field. Catcher Zach Johnson (Grandville, Mich.), third baseman Cameron Walker (Clinton Twp., Mich. / De La Salle) and starting pitcher/first baseman Kyle Zimmerman (Frankfort, Mich.) all earned All-Tournament Team honors. Johnson slugged .909 in his three tournament starts while hitting .364 with two home runs and six RBI while also stealing a base. Walker hit .357 with a home run, a double and three RBI. Zimmerman, selected as a starting pitcher, was also a force at the plate. He hit .429 with a home run and five RBI and finished the weekend with a .643 slugging percentage and a .467 on-base percentage. On the hill, Zimmerman struck out 10 over nine innings against Ashland in WSU's round two victory.

AWARDS BANQUET
The Wayne State University baseball program celebrated the end of an extremely successful regular season with its annual Awards & Senior Recognition Banquet on Monday night inside the Multipurpose Indoor Facility in front of friends, family, supporters and administrators. Each of the 11 senior student athletes spoke to the crowd about their time in the Green & Gold and the program handed out its team awards as voted on by the team. Director of Athletics Rob Fournier also spoke to the crowd of nearly 150 guests. Cameron Walker (Clinton Twp., Mich. / De La Salle) was named the team's Most Improved Player. Kirk Stambaugh (Sylvania, Ohio / Southview) received his second Weight Room Warrior Award. Jeremy Carrell (St. Clair, Mich.) was named the team's Top Hitter while A.J. Matos (Southgate, Mich. / Detroit Western) earned the Best Defensive Player Awardand the team's Warrior Award for leadership and commitment to the program. Alex Kinch (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Pioneer) was named the Anthony Bass Top Pitcher Award and Kyle Zimmerman (Frankfort, Mich.) was the Team MVP. In addition, the program handed out a new award this year. Hall of Famer Angelo Gust awarded former captain and letterwinner and current Executive Director of the Alumni Association, Ty Stevenson, the first Chris Wouters Alumni Leadership Award. Wouters is a WSU Hall of Famer and a former baseball letterwinner. He was killed in action as a police officer in Warren. This award will honor his legacy as a proud Tartar/Warrior and will be an annual award.

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.

RUCH PUTS NAME INTO RECORD BOOK
On Tuesday against Urbana, Clayton Ruch picked up his 10th save of the season and 20th of his career breaking the program record of 19 held by Billy Hurley (2010-12) on April 8 against Urbana. Ruch picked up his 11th save of the season in game one at Findlay on April 9, matching the program' single-season mark. Ruch closed out the home win over Findlay on April 16 for his record setting 12th save of the season.

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 .612 (191-121) 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.

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.

WSU BASEBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
For the latest news, notes and in-game updates on Warrior Baseball be sure to find us on Facebook and Twitter. On Facebook, the WSU Baseball pages can be found here and on Twitter, here.

PARKING
If you are coming to campus for Warrior Baseball on the weekends, be sure to park in Lot 50 in front of the Matthaei Building, it's free!

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.

WSU SUMMER CAMP
The Wayne State University baseball program will host its annual summer camp on July 29-30 at the WSU Baseball Field and Indoor Facility in Detroit. Campers will receive fundamental instruction in all aspects of the game, plus have a chance to meet players from the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers scheduled to appear this year are to be announced as the camp approaches. Past Tigers guests have included Prince Fielder, Miguel Cabrera, Curtis Granderson, Torii Hunter, Brandon Inge, Doug Fister, Austin Jackson, Victor Martinez, Rick Porcello, Pudge Rodriguez, Jose Valverde and Justin Verlander. Clinicians for the camp will include WSU head coach Ryan Kelley and Detroit Tigers pitching coach Jeff Jones, as well as local high school coaches and Wayne State baseball student-athletes and coaches. Camp participants will learn from an open camp environment where questions are encouraged.

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