Click here for printer-friendly (PDF) version of release

BAY CITY, Mich. - Grand Valley State University's senior second baseman Kyle Gendron (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child) and Saginaw Valley State University's freshman pitcher Carson Beauchaine (Fraser, Mich.) have been chosen as the GLIAC Baseball  "Player of the Week" and "Pitcher of the Week," respectively it was announced by the league office.

GLIAC Baseball Player of the Week:
Kyle Gendron - Grand Valley State
6-2, Senior, 2B
Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child

Senior second baseman Kyle Gendron hit a spectacular .750 (12-for-16) in four GLIAC contests this week, including a perfect 8-for-8 in a doubleheader against Tiffin on Wednesday with a homerun. He tied for the team lead with six runs and three doubles, and led the team with six RBI and 18 total bases for the week. His 1.125 slugging-percentage was the best on the team by .433 points, and his .765 on-base percentage led the team by .227 points. Gendron hit .786 (11-for-14) off righties and was a clutch 8-for-10 with runners on base for the week, and 4-for-5 with runners in scoring position and 3-for-3 with a runner on third and less than two out.

"Player of the Week" Honor Roll: Michael Goodwin - NU, Bobby Herberger - UF,   Evan Melendez - AU,  Jamie McNeill - HC, Ty Blake - TU, Josh Peterson - SV, Ryan LaPensee - WS
 

2010 Baseball "Players of the Week": (3/17) Michael Wiseman - WS; (3/22) Cody Grice - GV; (3/29) Devin Rudolph - TU; (4/5) Ryan Webber - SV; (4/12) Devin Rudolph - TU; (4/19) Ben Minard - AU; (4/26) Kyle Gendron - GV.

GLIAC Baseball Pitcher of the Week:
Carson Beauchaine - Saginaw Valley State
6-2, Freshman
Fraser, Mich.

Freshman Carson Beauchaine fired a shutout against visiting Ashland University on Wednesday, Apr. 21.  Beauchaine worked all seven innings, allowing only two hits and one walk while striking-out five Eagle hitters.  Beauchaine currently sits fifth in the GLIAC in ERA (3.79).

"Pitcher of the Week" Honor Roll: AaronHilt - AU, Ethan James- UF,  Jared Knuth- GV, Matt Toporski - NU, Josh Wedesky - WS

2010 "Pitchers of the Week": (3/17) Justin Mazur - WS; (3/22) Cory Rademacher - GV; (3/29) Pat Curtin - TU; (4/5) Kyle Schepel - GV; (4/12) Austin Ritson - AU; (4/19) Brady Cooper -WS; (4/26) Carson Beauchaine - SV.

Ashland Eagles (27-17, 17-11 GLIAC)

The Eagles went 4-2 this past week as they improved their season record to 27-17 overall and 17-11 in league play.  Ashland split two games at Saginaw Valley State on Wednesday (Apr. 21), and then won three out of four at home against Northwood over the weekend.   Junior Evan Melendez set the table all week for the Ashland offense.  The number-two hitter went 11-for-17 on the week for a .647 batting average.  He also walked three times for a .652 on-base percentage.  For the week, he scored five runs had 11 hits, and four RBI.  He also swiped one base and is now a perfect 10-for-10 on the season in stolen base situations.  On the pitching side, sophomore Aaron Hilt had his breakout game this season.  The righthander dominated Northwood as he pitched a complete game shutout on Saturday (Apr. 24).  He threw seven innings, allowed five hits and struck out five.  He forced the Timberwolves to hit into three double plays as he earned his third win of the season.  Ashland turned eight double plays this week and continues to be in the top three in the nation in that category.

Findlay Oilers (13-31, 5-24 GLIAC)

The Oilers went 2-5 last week, winning a doubleheader at home against St. Joseph’s College on Tuesday. Bobby Herberger led the Oilers offense during the week as he collected nine hits. On the season, David Cort is leading the team with a .364 batting average while Dustin Zielaskiewicz is connecting at a .333 clip. The Oilers are in danger of setting the single season school record for losses as they have racked up 31 thus far. The record of 33 was set during the 2003 campaign.

Grand Valley State Lakers (31-11, 21-8 GLIAC)

#14 Grand Valley State went 3-1 in GLIAC play last week, splitting with Tiffin and sweeping a doubleheader at Saginaw Valley State. Senior second baseman Kyle Gendron (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child) had a spectacular week, hitting .750 (12-for-16) including a perfect 8-for-8 day against Tiffin, as he had 18 total bases for the week and tied for the team lead with six runs and three doubles while collecting six RBI. Senior Jared Knuth (St. Joseph, Mich./GRCC) threw a complete game three-hit shutout on Saturday at SVSU, allowing only one runner past second base for the game. Sophomore Cody Grice (Lansing, Mich./Dewitt) is still assaulting the GVSU and GLIAC record books, as he holds a .471 average, threatening the GLIAC single-season record of .477. Grice has also collected 80 hits so far this season, only 17 behind the single-season GLIAC record. The Lakers finish up their regular season this weekend with a doubleheader on Saturday (May 1) against Wayne State and a single nine-inning game on Sunday (May 2) against the Warriors, potentially with the regular-season GLIAC title on the line.

Hillsdale Chargers (10-29, 7-21 GLIAC)

The Hillsdale College baseball team finished the season series 4-1 against Northwood University after sweeping the Timberwolves Wednesday afternoon, each by one run. Four of Hillsdale’s seven GLIAC wins have come against Northwood. Saturday, the Chargers allowed 20 or more runs for the third time in a GLIAC game this season in a 23-8 loss to Wayne State. Junior Jamie McNeill is on a seven-game hitting streak, batting .550 in that stretch of games. Sophomore John Bonvillian has hits in 21 of his past 24 games. The team will wrap up the 2010 season this week, traveling to Findlay Wednesday before hosting Tiffin for a three-game weekend series in Hillsdale. The Chargers and Dragons will play a single, nine-inning game Saturday, then play a doubleheader Sunday, a change from the original schedule.

Northwood Timberwolves (20-23, 12-18 GLIAC)

Northwood went 2-5 last week. The Timberwolves are now 20-23 overall, 12-18 in the GLIAC. Ten of Northwood’s 18 GLIAC losses have been by one or two runs. Michael Goodwin (Midland, Mich.) led the Timberwolves’ offense, batting .400 with six RBI’s for the week. Clay Rosette (Hartland, Mich.) and Ryan Palmer (Saginaw, Mich./Nouvel) each had two home runs for the Timberwolves during the week. Matt Toporski (Essexville, Mich.) earned a win at Ashland, allowing two runs in six innings. Ryan Abraham (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) had two strong starts for NU, finishing with a 3.75 ERA, he allowed five earned runs in 12 innings of work. The Timberwolves have a busy final week of the season, hosting Alma Tuesday, Aquinas Wednesday and SVSU Saturday and Sunday. Saturday’s doubleheader versus SVSU will take place at Dow Diamond in Midland.

Saginaw Valley State Cardinals (17-19, 13-13 GLIAC)

The Saginaw Valley State University baseball team went 1-3 this past week. The Cardinals split a mid-week doubleheader with Ashland University, losing the first game 3-2 before shutting-out the Eagles, 1-0 in the nightcap.  Freshman Carson Beauchaine fired a complete game, two-hitter to record his first collegiate shutout in the second game.  The winning run came via a Ryan Webber RBI single in the bottom of the first inning, which scored Josh Peterson.  The Cardinals were then swept on Saturday (Apr. 24) by Grand Valley State, losing the first game, 6-0 and the nightcap 5-1.  SVSU’s lone run of the doubleheader came when Kyle O’Boyle singled-in Kevin Dore in the top of the third inning.  Saginaw Valley hosts Wayne State on Wednesday (Apr. 28) for a GLIAC doubleheader before playing Northwood on Saturday at Dow Diamond for a 4 pm doubleheader and again at Northwood for a single nine-inning contest at 1 pm on Sunday.

Tiffin Dragons (21-18, 17-13 GLIAC)

TU was red hot at the plate, batting .419 as a team and scoring 65 runs in 7 games. The team slugged .598 and had a .454 OBP…Ty Blake had his best week of the season, hitting a blisterin .714 while tying the single season school record with his 22nd double against Findlay. He also stands just two hits shy of his own single season hits record. For the week, Blake led the Dragons in runs (11), hits (15), doubles (6), and RBI (11) while slugging 1.381 and posting a .727 on-base pct. Tiffin University totaled 29 hits, highlighted by a 7-run 5th inning, as TU rocketed past Findlay 22-9 on Senior Day. Jason Higgins got the win after 3.1 innings of relief during which he allowed no earned runs. Jordan Chiero had a mammoth game, drilling 3 home runs along with 2 singles for 6 RBI.In a 14-7 victory in the opener, Blake had 4 hits with 3 doubles and a home run for 3 RBI, making a winner of Donnie Smith. Smith went the distance for the win. Tiffin University  played a variety of players in two losses at St. Joseph’s, falling 6-5 in 8 innings and 9-3 in the night. Tiffin University got a solid 6 innings from Trevor Woodjetts and a save from Jordan Liette in a 7-6 win over Grand Valley State in game two. Blake had a big game, collecting 3 hits with a triple and home run for 4 RBI while Jason Bailey had 2 hits and Pat Curtin drove in two runs.

Wayne State Warriors (27-14, 21-5 GLIAC)

The first-place Warriors went 4-0 last week, sweeping Findlay on Wednesday in their final home doubleheader of the year before taking two at Hillsdale on Saturday in a rain-shortened series.  Wayne State was aided by solid pitching from Justin Mazur, who improved to 6-0 on the year and 18-2 for his career in a complete-game victory in Wednesday’s opener, and Josh Wedesky, who blanked the Chargers in Saturday’s second game for his first career win.  David White broke the school record with his 50th career relief appearance in Saturday’s 23-8 victory.  The Warriors averaged 14 hits per game last week, and were led at the plate by Ryan LaPensee, who went 10-for-16 with a pair of homers, four stolen bases and 11 runs scored.  Paul LaMantia hit .533 and among his eight hits were four home runs, giving him 10 on the season.  Caleb Dalman, Michael Wiseman, and John Skaggs all hit over .400 last week as well.  Wayne State will travel to Central Michigan for a nine-inning contest Tuesday before heading to Saginaw Valley State for a doubleheader Wednesday.