Baseball 4/21/2014 11:25:00 AM Cameron Weidenthaler, Assistant SID

Warrior Baseball Prepare for Tiffin & Lake Erie

WSU will host Tiffin for a doubleheader on Wednesday at 2 PM.

2014 Prospectus (PDF) | 2014 Media Guide | 2014 Stat Packet (PDF ) | NCAA Stats

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University baseball team (27-11, 15-7 GLIAC) will host a midweek doubleheader with fourth-place Tiffin (12-26, 11-10 GLIAC) before traveling to second-pace Lake Erie (23-14, 17-7 GLIAC) this weekend for a three-game series, with important GLIAC-seeding implications.

Setting the Stage	Wayne State University Baseball vs. Tiffin & at Lake Erie
Dates	Wednesday, April 23 \| Saturday and Saturday, April 26-27
Time	Wednesday (2 & 5 PM) \| Saturday (1 & 4 PM) \| Saturday (Noon)
Location	Detroit, Mich. (WSU Baseball Field) \| Painesville, Ohio (Braggs Field)
Web	Twitter: @WayneStWarriors \| #WarriorBSB
Live Stats	Wednesday \| Saturday & Sunday
Opponent Information	Tiffin Baseball \| Lake Erie Baseball

GAME STORYLINES
After winning 10 straight games, WSU went 2-2 this past week with a win over Findlay on Wednesday and avoided a sweep with a game two win at Ohio Dominican on Saturday. The win over the Panthers also prevented the Warriors from matching a season-long, three-game losing streak. In the process, this weekend's opponent, Lake, Erie, moved into second place in the GLIAC standings. This past week, Jeremy Carrell led the team with a .400 batting average. The sophomore shortstop continued to be one of the best table-setters in the country, going 6-for-15 with five runs scored and three RBI while slugging .400. He was also hit by four pitches and finished the week with a .526 on-base percentage. Carrell ranks third in the league with a .405 average, leads the GLIAC with 49 runs scored, 12 more with second-place total and leads the league with a .569 on-base percentage. Carrell is trying to become the 22nd Warrior to hit .400 for a season and the first since 2010 (Ryan LaPensee and Paul LaMantia). Carrell also stole his 18th base of the year, which ranks third in the conference.

SCOUTING TIFFIN
The Dragons are having a solid GLIAC season and enter the week 11-10 in league action and 12-26 overall. Tiffin swept Northwood this past weekend to move into fourth place in the league standings and begin a five-game road trip at WSU on Wednesday. Garrett Vernau is hitting ,333 to lead the team. Nick Calandra leads the roster with 20 RBI while Cole McCurry is second with 18. Vernau also leads the GLIAC with 28 stolen bases in 32 attempts. As a team, TU is hitting .250 and is 71-for-93 on the basepaths this year. Tyler Nichols has made 10 appearances and three starts and carries a 2-1 record to go with his 0.26 ERA in 35 innings pitched. Logan Sendelbach leads the team with 31 strikeouts in 51 innings. As a staff, the Dragons enter the week with a 3.79 ERA and opponents are hitting .276 against the TU staff. Head coach Joe Wilkins is in his second season with the team.

SCOUTING LAKE ERIE
Lake Erie was predicted to finish seventh in the GLIAC prior to the season but enter the week in second place 23-14 and 17-7 in the GLIAC. The Storm are coming off a three-game sweep of #7 Grand Valley State. LEC will play a doubleheader at Malone on Tuesday. Lucas Raley is hitting .353 with six home runs and 25 RBI to lead the Storm. Zack DeCamp i shitting .336 with 18 rbi. As a team, LEC is hitting .263. Heath Kelley 2-2 with a 1,26 ERA in 43 innings pitched. Russ Hougue is 3-2 with a 2.29 ERA. Brad Raley leads the team with 38 strikeouts in 39 1/3 innings. As a staff, the Storm carry a 3.45 ERA with opponents hitting .264. Head coach Brian McGee is in his seventh season as the Storm's skipper.

ALL-TIME SERIES
WSU leads the all-time series with Tiffin 25-10 and are 5-6 against the Storm under Coach Kelley including an 8-2 record at home. The Warriors also lead the all-time series with Lake Erie, 9-3, all under Kelley. Coach Kelley is 3-1 in Painesville.

LAST TIME OUT
After dropping the series opener on Thursday in Detroit, the Warriors split Saturday's doubleheader at Ohio Dominican. The Panthers took game one, 4-3, in eight innings while WSU avoided the sweep with a 7-3 game two victory.In game one, Kyle Zimmerman was impressive going 6 1/3 innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits with five strikeouts. Following a one-out single in the bottom of the seventh inning, head coach Ryan Kelley elected to go with his closer to try to secure the final two outs. Clayton Ruch (2-2) collected the second out but ODU tied the game, 3-3, with back-to-back base hits. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Jossue Delgado singled and stole second before Ruch issued a four-pitch walk. The Panthers' catcher Kyle Tisdale delivered a walk-off RBI single into left field to give ODU the 4-3 victory.

In game two, Griffin Harms hammered his first collegiate home run, a two-run shot to left field in the top of the fourth inning to give the Warriors a 5-2 lead. Carrell added insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning with a two-run single into center field to give the Warriors a 7-3 lead. Carrell finished 3-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored. Kinch went six innings and allowed three earned runs on seven hits while walking three with three punchouts.

NEXT UP
The Warriors will host will wrap up the series with Tiffin with a single nine-inning game on Wednesday at 2 PM in Tiffin, Ohio.

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 .610 (183-117) 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.

Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

Print Friendly Version