2014 Prospectus (PDF) | 2014 Media Guide | 2014 Stat Packet (PDF) | NCAA Stats DETROIT -- The Wayne State University baseball team (25-9, 13-5 GLIAC) hosts two midweek games this week as its looks to extend its winning streak past nine games. WSU will host Findlay (9-20, 6-13 GLIAC) on Wednesday and Ohio Dominican (19-15, 9-10 GLIAC) on Thursday. The Warriors will finished the series with ODU on Saturday with a doubleheader in Columbus, Ohio.
GAME STORYLINES The Warriors are playing their best baseball of the season as the regular season is nearing an end. WSU has won nine straight games to improve to 25-9 overall and 13-5 in the GLIAC. The Green & Gold have outscored its opponents 53-16 over the past six games while hitting .363. The pitching staff has been just as impressive, posting a 1.96 ERA. Opponents hit just .179 against WSU pitchers.
Jeremy Carrell ranks first in runs scored (44), first in on-base percentage (.575), first in hit-by-pitches (19), third in batting average (.406) and third in stolen bases (17).
Eric Cunningham is second in the league in RBI (36).
Zach Johnson and
Kyle Zimmerman are tied for the league lead in doubles with 11.
Clayton Ruch leads the GLIAC with 11 saves and
Alex Kinch is tied-for-sixth with three complete games and is eighth in ERA at 2.14. Coach Kelley will manage his 300th game for the Warriors on Saturday, April 19 at Ohio Dominican.
SCOUTING FINDLAYThe Oilers enter the week 9-20 overall and 6-13 in the conference play. Findlay dropped two of three at Ohio Dominican and will play at Bowling Green on Tuesday. The Warriors took both games of a doubleheader on April 9. Jordan Garcia leads the team with a .333 batting average and a .411 slugging percentage to go with his .440 on-base percentage. Joe Sickler leads the squad with 17 RBI and three home runs. As a team, the Oilers are hitting .216. Alex Williams has made 14 appearances this season and is 2-1 with three saves to go with his sparkling 1.26 ERA. He has struck out 26 batters in 28 2/3 innings. Drew Hargrove and Jon Walker both have two wins with Hargrove leading the staff with 57 innings pitched this season. As a staff, the Oilers carry a 4.84 ERA.
SCOUTING OHIO DOMINICANOhio Dominican is 19-15 overall and 9-10 in league play and currently sit in sixth place in the GLIAC standings. The Panthers took two of three from Findlay this past weekend and will host Malone on Wednesday before traveling to Midtown. Jossue Delgado leads the team with a .364 batting average and is second in the GLIAC with 23 stolen bases in 24 attempts to with with his 19 RBI. Anthony Raschilla is hitting .311 and leads the team with 25 RBI. Bryan Rudolph is tied-for-second in the league with 10 doubles. As a team, ODU is hitting .274. Ryan Colegate, Vince Bartolone and Sean Blackburn all have three wins on the season and all carry a sub-three ERA. Bartolone leads the team with 15 appearances and has collected six saves. Alex Borgan leads the team with 36 strikeouts in 45 1/3 innings.
ALL-TIME SERIES WSU leads the all-time series with Findlay 39-20 while Coach Kelley is 18-2 all-time against the Oilers including a 10-0 mark at home. Wayne State also leads the series with Ohio Dominican at seven wins to five losses. Coach Kelley is 7-2 against the Panthers (6-1 at home, 1-1 on the road).
LAST TIME OUT WSU won its ninth straight game with a 13-5 win over Hillsdale on Sunday to complete the series sweep.
David Frederick improved to 3-2 and the offense stayed hot, outscoring the Chargers 37-10. An eight-run fifth inning would be more than enough offense on Sunday.
NEXT UPThe Warriors will host Tiffin for a doubleheader on Wednesday beginning at 2 PM.
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 TAKES AIM AT HISTORY 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). Ruch picked up his 11th save of the season in game one at Findlay on Wednesday, matching the program' single-season mark.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 .611 (181-115) 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 MEDIAFor 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.PARKINGIf 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.
