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BAY CITY, Mich. -- Grand Valley State University junior infielder Kyle Gendron (Dearborn, Mich.) and Tiffin University sophomore pitcher Donnie Smith (Johnstown, Ohio/Monroe) were named Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) "Player and Pitcher of the Week," respectively, by the league office.

GLIAC Baseball Player of the Week:
Kyle Gendron
Grand Valley State University
Junior/Infielder/R-R
Dearborn, Mich./W. Michigan

Kyle Gendron led the Lakers in multiple categories over the five-game week, including batting average (.600), runs (9), hits (12), home runs (t2), RBI (11) and walks (3). The junior infielder homered in both games of a double-header against Hillsdale on Wednesday, helping the Lakers to a sweep of the Chargers. Following that, Gendron went 5-for-5 with five RBI and two runs scored to help the Lakers split a double-header with Findlay on Saturday. Gendron hit 6-for-9 in that twinbill, scoring two runs and bringing in five.

Weekly Honor Roll:  Ben Minard - AU, Ross Guisinger - UF, Jesse Smith - HC, Brett Lechner - NU, Pat Curtain - TU, Michael Wiseman - WS.

2009 GLIAC Baseball "Players of the Week": March 19 - Jeff Foltz - Ashland University; March 23 - Cody Grice - Grand Valley State University; March 30 - Matthew Williams - Wayne State University; April 6 - Kyle Gendron - Grand Valley State University.

GLIAC Baseball Pitcher of the Week:
Donnie Smith
Tiffin University
Sophomore/LHP
Johnstown, Ohio/Monroe

Tiffin University sophomore left-hander Donnie Smith had a solid week for the Dragons, posting the best ERA amongst team starters with a 2.25 mark. He picked up a win against 29th-ranked University of Indianapolis, tossing 5 innings of four-hit ball. But Smith’s best outing of the week was saved for Saginaw Valley State, where he tossed a complete-game two-hitter in a 6-1 victory. He allowed a total of 6 hits in 12 innings of work last week, while fanning 13 batters and walking only three.

Weekly Honor Roll:  Brian Lonjak - AU, Ryan Rothernbuler - UF, Ben Knuth - GV, Scott Monterastelli - HC, Mark Heard - NU, Brett Shankin - WS.

2009 GLIAC Baseball "Pitchers of the Week":  March 19 - Danny Richard - Grand Valley State University; March 23 - Andre Benjamin - Grand Valley State University;
March 30 - Scott Monterastelli - Hillsdale College; April 6
Donnie Smith - Tiffin University.

-----GLIAC Baseball Weekly Notes-----

Ashland - The 14th-ranked Eagles went 5-0 this past week to improve their record to 25-8 overall and 10-2 in the GLIAC. AU beat Wayne State twice last Wednesday (Apr. 1) at Wayne, 14-7 and 14-7. Ashland then hosted Hillsdale this past weekend and the Eagles won all three, 17-4, 9-4 and 7-3. In the doubleheader against WSU, juniors Jacob Petkac and Ben Minard combined for 14 RBI and 11 runs on 12 hits. Petkac took control in game one of the doubleheader, going three-for-five with a homerun, a double and six RBI. Minard was no slouch in game one either, going four-for-five with a run scored and three RBI. In game two, Minard hit the ball well again, going four-for-four with four RBI and three runs scored. Petkac was walked twice and hit by a pitch in another at bat, but finished with one hit, one RBI and four runs scored. The Eagles have won five games in a row and eight out of nine. AU has seven players hitting over .300, including senior Jeff Foltz (.519) who was leading the country last week in batting average. Ashland hosts Northwood for a doubleheader on Wednesday (Apr. 8) and hosts Tiffin for a three-game set on Friday (Apr. 10) and Saturday (Apr. 11).

Findlay - The Oilers won two games last week…They defeated Saginaw Valley State University 15-14 and Grand Valley State University 5-4…They scored seven runs in the seventh to defeat the Cardinals and came from behind to take down the Lakers as well…Senior Brian Sampsel has 33 runs batted in on the season and is chasing the record of 46 set by Chad Geuy during the 2007 campaign…He has also hit three grand slams this year.

Grand Valley State - Grand Valley State went 4-1 on the week, including two wins over both Hillsdale and Findlay...The week started with a sweep of Hillsdale and ended with two out of three against Findlay...GVSU is ranked No. 1 in the NCBWA DII rankings and No. 2 in the Collegiate Baseball poll...Junior Kyle Gendron (Dearborn, Mich./Western Michigan) and freshman Cody Grice (Lansing, Mich./Dewitt) both homered twice in the sweep of Hillsdale...Gendron led the team with a .600 batting average, 11 RBI and nine runs scored during the week...Senior Andre Benjamin (Grand Ledge, Mich.) maintained his perfect record on the mound with a win against Findlay to advance to 6-0...GVSU is 28-4 overall and 12-2 in conference play...Through March 29, the Lakers rank third in Division II in win percentage (.889) and third in team earned-run average (2.45)...They also rank second in hits allowed per nine innings (7.02) and 11th in walks allowed per nine innings (2.67)...Sophomore Danny Richard (West Bloomfield, Mich.) ranks first in Division II in walks allowed per nine innings with a miniscule 0.27...Richard also ranks sixth in both earned-run average (0.82) and hits allowed per nine innings (4.64).

Hillsdale - The Hillsdale College baseball team saw its losing streak reach seven games after going 0-5 against the top two teams in the GLIAC, Grand Valley State and Ashland…GVSU was ranked No. 1 in the nation last week, while Ashland was ranked 14th…The Chargers have already played GVSU five times this season, going 0-5…Freshman John Bonvillian had his first seven hits of his career, all coming in the five games this week…He had a career-high three hits in Sunday’s game vs. Ashland…The team is scheduled to host Wayne State on Wednesday, but the Hillsdale area received six inches of snow Monday morning.

Northwood - Northwood went 3-2 last week, sweeping three games from Wayne State over the weekend after dropping a pair at Tiffin ... NU is now 15-11 overall, 9-6 in the GLIAC and alone in third place in the conference ... the Timberwolves have already exceeded their conference win total from a year ago, when Northwood posted a 7-25 leage mark ... Northwood is now 6-0 on the season at home, having swept weekend series against Tiffin and Wayne State ... pitching again was the key for Northwood in their wins over Wayne State, as the Timberwolves posted a 2.52 ERA in the three games against the Warriors ... in their six home games this season, NU has a team ERA of 2.25 ... Brett Lechner (Midland, Mich./Dow) led the way for the Northwood offense, batting .500 with seven RBI’s in five games ... Mark Heard (Novi, Mich.) allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings of work to get the win in game two of Saturday’s doubleheader against WSU ... Jordan Snider (Bay City, Mich.) and Tom Rezler (Rhodes, Mich./Pinconning) each posted their fourth wins of the year this week ... last year, Northwood’s winningest pitcher (Josh Perry) finished the season with five wins ... the Timberwolves will travel to Ashland and Grand Valley State this week.

Saginaw Valley State - SVSU went 2-3 this week. In the first game against Findlay on April 1, the Cardinals lost 15-14 in an offense-full game with the Oilers. The Cardinals took an early 4-0 lead, off a three-run homerun off the bat of freshman Mike VanAlst (Clio, Mich.) and an RBI single from junior Kevin Dore (Bay City, Mich.). The Cardinals would then go up 5-3 in the next inning off junior Charlie Thomas’s solo homerun. In the third, the Cardinals put three more on the board, add one more in the fifth. In the sixth inning, junior Ryan Webber (Clio, Mich.) would hit SVSU’s first grand slam of the season, putting the Cardinals up, 13-8. In Game 2, however, the Cardinals came out swinging by scoring three in the first inning, and three in the second to quickly go up 6-1. In the fourth inning, Thomas would belt his second homerun of the day, increasing the SVSU lead to 7-3. SVSU would add one more in the sixth, before scoring four in the seventh to take a 12-5 lead... The Cardinals would drop two of three games to Tiffin on the weekend, losing 20-8 & 6-1 before taking game 3, 4-3 in 15 innings. Junior Colin Coulter (Clio, Mich.) threw a solid nine-inning match, allowing three runs on nine hits with six strikeouts. Sophomore Scott Horman (St. Louis, Mich.) would take over in the 10th and give SVSU six innings in relief.

Tiffin - TU went 6-1 for the week, led largely by their resurgent offense. TU batted a red-hot .365 for the week, with Pat Curtin hitting .462 and Ty Blake matching him with a .462 average. Blake had 11 RBI along with 2 doubles, a triple, and 2 home runs…Bobby Mullin was also over .400 with a .409 average, collecting 8 RBI with 2 doubles and a home run…Colin Lowe and Devin Rudolph both hit .385 on the week, with Lowe also getting 8 RBI…Val Helldobler hit .365 and Tom Touris batted .345 with 8 RBI…Trevor Johnson hit .333, Jason Bailey hit .308 with 8 RBI, and Adam Greening hit an even .300 , as all 9 Dragons starters hit over .300 for the week…TU scored 79 runs in 7 games while also banging out 91 hits and driving in 72 runs…they also posted a .434 OBP and a .558 slugging percentage…Kyle Klinker had a 2.25 ERA with a win and a save, matching Donnie Smith’s 2.25 ERA for best on the team this week…Eric Ludrowsky also pitched well, going 1-0 with a 3.27 ERA and fanning 18 in 11 innings of work…Travis Colliver and Tom Podulka also picked up pitching wins, with Colliver getting a win in relief…Kenny Shaw also picked up a save.

Wayne State - The Warriors, who won all five of their games two weeks ago, lost all six this week…Matthew Williams (Detroit, Mich./Royal Oak Shrine) batted .458 with nine runs scored and eight RBI during his career-long 12-game hitting streak, which tied for the longest by a Warrior this season but was snapped in the Northwood series…both Tyler Loehr (Brighton, Mich.) and Brett Shankin (Washington, Mich./Romeo) posted six-inning complete games Saturday at NU…Loehr’s complete game was the first of his career, while Shankin earned his second…WSU had a six-game winning streak against the Timberwolves before Saturday’s 4-1 loss…Wayne State had not lost two in a row to Northwood since 1994… Phil Swanson (Rochester Hills, Mich./Stoney Creek) leads Wayne State with a .400 batting average this season...David White (Taylor, Mich./Kennedy) moved into sole possession of ninth place all-time at Wayne State on Sunday with his 31st career relief appearance...Sunday was the 100th meeting between WSU and Northwood...the Warriors lead the all-time series, 63-37, dating back to 1968.