*
- Weekly notes are submitted by the GLIAC
member Sports Infomation departments
Weekly Notes
Ashland University
Eagles
Thanks to two wins at Wayne State on Sunday, Ashland earned a berth in the GLIAC Tournament. AU has finished as the tournament runnerup twice, in 2006 and 2004…AU head coach John Schaly is closing in on 800 wins. Ashland went 3-1 last week and that leaves Schaly with 798 career victories. At Ashland, Schaly has 435 wins. This is his 11th year at AU and his 21st year as a collegiate head coach…sophomore Ben Minard (Olentangy, OH/Delaware) was the national leader in batting average last week (.485). That’s the second consecutive week he’s led the country in hitting. As a team, the Eagles are sixth in the nation in batting average (.363). The school record for highest batting average in a season is .364 (2002)…junior Todd Schlenkerman (Elyria, OH/Keystone) went 1-0 last week with his first save of the season. Schlenkerman is 7-2 this year. The righthander has won seven games in each of his three seasons at AU…Minard has also won seven games this season. This is the second consecutive year he’s reached that win total…catcher Chase Beatty (Milan, OH/Edison) continues to be one of AU’s hottest hitters. The senior hit .385 last week and entered the weekend with a .367 batting average…the Eagles enter this week’s GLIAC Tournament with wins in six of their last eight games.
Weekly Notes
University of Findlay
Oilers
The Oilers defeated Gannon twice and then had both of their twin bills against Grand Valley State cancelled due to inclement weather…Findlay’s conference record allows them to compete in the GLIAC Tournament for only the second time in school history which will take place at Dow Diamond in Midland, Michigan on May 8-10…The last time the Oilers qualified for the GLIAC Tournament came during the 2005 campaign when they reached the finals, eventually falling 9-4 to Grand Valley State…On the season, Brian Sampsel ended the season with a .397 batting average to lead the squad…Sampsel also has a single year school record 25 doubles on the season…George Rohan and Jeff Peters each have eight homeruns and share the school record for most round trippers in a season…Rohan has scored 43 runs and is only three away from tying his single season record for runs in a season set last year…He is also closing in on Chad Geuy’s single season RBI record of 46 set last year…He currently has 42…Josh Barney has saved ten games thus far which is a new single season school record.
Weekly Notes
Gannon University
Golden Knights
Gannon ended its final season as a member of the GLIAC with a 6-2 victory over Hillsdale last Sunday … the Golden Knights improved three games overall and three games in the GLIAC in 2008 … Chris Miller (Franklin, Pa./Franklin) completed a stellar career at Gannon after starting at first base for four seasons … Miller is finished one game played (189) and one at-bat (587) shy of school records … Miller ranks third all-time in hits (161), sixth in RBI (82), seventh in walks (64), ninth in doubles (27), and 10th in total bases (192) … John Pichette (Horseheads, N.Y./Elmira-Notre Dame) also finished his collegiate career with a career-best .326 average, going 2-for-2 with two RBI in his final game … Jonathan Dziomba (Williamsville, N.Y./St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute) finished the season with 38 RBI, the fifth-highest single-season total in school history … Dziomba was one of 13 players in school history to hit five home runs … Eric Harpster (Erie, Pa./McDowell) was hit by a pitch 11 times this season, the third-highest single-season mark in school history … Ryan Tann (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep) posted the fifth-highest on-base percentage (.433) in school history … Gannon finished 7-0 when leading after the sixth inning.
Weekly Notes
Grand Valley State University
Lakers
GVSU claimed the #3 seed in the 2008 GLIAC Baseball Championship despite playing just 2 of its six scheduled GLIAC contests last week... Grand Valley State swept a GLIAC doubleheader from Northwood Wednesday afternoon, winning game one 14-8 and game two 10-9. GVSU is now 31-11 on the year overall and 17-7 in GLIAC action... Casey Robrahn went 7-for-8 (.875) in the doubleheader, with a double, a triple and five runs-batted-in... Bobby Walmsley went 5-for-6 (.833) with two doubles and four RBI, while Dan Anstedt went 4-for-7 (.571) with a double, a triple and five RBI... The Lakers will face #2 seed Ashland in the opening game of the GLIAC Championship Thursday a 3 pm at Dow Diamond in Midland, Mich.
Weekly Notes
Hillsdale College
Chargers
The Charger baseball team wrapped up its 2008 season by winning four of its last five games…Hillsdale won three straight from Gannon before losing the season finale Sunday afternoon…Pitchers Tom Molter and Scott Monterastelli each finished 5-3 on the season to lead the team’s hurlers…Dan Fodell finished the season getting hits in nine of his last 10 games, including six multi-hit games during that stretch…Hillsdale was 13-1 this season when leading after four innings…The team was 9-5 when hitting one or more home run during a game, and was 14-7 when its opponents scored five runs or less…Jesse Smith led all position players with a .343 batting average…Smith, Brandon Hubbard and Dan Fodell all each led the team with 46 total hits…Fodell led the team with five home runs…Hillsdale hit 18 home runs as a team while giving up 35…Nate Chucta led the team with 33 RBI.
Weekly Notes
Mercyhurst College
Lakers
The Mercyhurst Lakers finished their GLIAC affiliation by winning four of their last six games to finish with a 27-25 overall record and a 13-19 GLIAC mark. After starting the GLIAC schedule with a 1-9 record, the Lakers went 14-10 over their last 24 games and won four of their last five games of the season, as well. Mercyhurst took one from Ashland and three from Northwood during the week. Joe Luli and Jamie Walczak each hit .529 (9-for-17) during the week, and Luli drove in nine runs, finishing his Mercyhurst career with a seven-game hitting streak. Walczak, meanwhile, drove in five runs and went 5-for-5 in stolen base attempts. Senior Josh Schmidt also hit .455 with three doubles during the week. Starting pitcher Steve Grife was just as impressive on the mound, hurling a pair of complete game victories. In two starts, he tossed 14 innings, surrendered just one run and struck out 17 while walking one. His 12-strikeout performance against Northwood tied a career-high and was his third double-digit strikeout effort of the season. It was also his second complete game shutout in his last four starts. In his last four starts, Grife has pitched 28 innings, struck out 35, including a career-high 12 on Sunday, walked only three and surrendered just two runs for a 0.64 ERA. He closes his season with a 6-5 record and a 2.50 ERA through 11 starts. His 78 strikeouts is the second-highest single season total in school history, as well, trailing only Steve Strohm, who totaled 79 in 2001.
Weekly Notes
Northwood University
Timberwolves
The Northwood baseball team saw its 2008 season come to an end by going 3-5 to end the season … NU swept Rochester to open the week before getting swept at Grand Valley and dropping three of four at Mercyhurst … the Timberwolves finished their season 22-28 overall, 7-25 in the GLIAC … senior first baseman Matt Shields (Midland, Mich.) had a strong final week of his career … he hit .391 with a pair of home runs and 10 RBI’s … he had a .783 slugging percentage in his final eight games … Shields finishes his career ranked among the career leaders in numerous categories, including runs (fourth – 125), hits (second – 179), doubles (third – 32), triples (fourth – seven), home runs (second – 30), RBI’s (second – 136), walks (second – 130), at-bats (fifth – 517), slugging percentage (fourth - .609) and on-base percentage (.493 – third) … junior outfielder Clay Rosette (Hartland, Mich.) set a school record for RBI’s in a season this year, finishing with 51 … his total broke the 18-year old record of Ed Dreslinski, who drove in 50 in 1990 … senior outfielder Champ Rankin (Gladwin, Mich.) finished his career ranked third in school history with 76 stolen bases.
Weekly Notes
Saginaw Valley State University
Cardinals
Reed Welker (Toledo, Ohio/St. John’s) set the single-season home run record at SVSU with his 14th home run against Rochester College Saturday, breaking the record previously held by Kraig Enders…Welker leads the GLIAC in home runs (14), RBI (56), total bases (125) and slugging percentage (.833), while also ranking second in doubles (18), fourth in batting average (.420) and sixth in on base percentage (.483)…Welker finished the regular season on a 22-game hitting streak…Scott Roy (Mt. Morris, Mich./E.A. Johnson) pitched nine innings against Wayne State for his ninth win of the season, tied for the most in the GLIAC…Roy is also fourth in the GLIAC in strikeouts (71) and fifth in ERA (3.45)…Andrew Doyle (Flint, Mich./Powers) is second in the GLIAC in strikeouts (75), third in ERA (2.78) and sixth in wins (6)…Josh Peterson (Midland, Mich./Bullock Creek) finished first in the GLIAC in walks (38), fifth in on base percentage (.483) and sixth in doubles (16)…Brandon Fanion (Marysville, Mich.) is sixth in the conference in home runs (7)…Fanion also leads the GLIAC in hit batters (15)…Charlie Thomas (Northville, Mich.) finished second on the team in batting average (.339) and RBI (34)…Thomas ranks seventh in the GLIAC in doubles (14)…Welker and Fanion are the only Cardinals to have started all 44 games for the Cardinals this season.
Weekly Notes
Wayne State University
Warriors
Despite closing out the regular season with a 1-3 mark in four games, the 18th-ranked Warriors clinched the GLIAC regular season title and the top seed in the upcoming conference tournament … WSU had a pair of road games go nine innings Wednesday at Saginaw Valley State, dropping the first game, 4-3, but recovering to win game two, 3-2 … Brett Shankin (Washington, Mich.) lasted a career-best 7.1 innings and surrendered just three runs on five hits in the opener … he retired 10 of the first 12 batters he faced and induced two double plays … Charlie Dunneback (Lansing, Mich.) drove in the game-winning run with a one-out base hit in the top of the ninth in game two as the Warriors, with an assist from Ashland which lost to Mercyhurst, secured their first GLIAC regular season title since 2005 … after Saturday’s doubleheader was cancelled due to unplayable field conditions, Wayne State dropped its final two home games to #28 Ashland on Sunday … to celebrate Senior Day, the Warriors started all four seniors in the finale including Derek Ranck (Clarkston, Mich.), who suffered a season-ending arm injury last month but made an “honorary” start in left field … Adam Kaminski (Clinton Twp., Mich.) came in for Ranck prior to the first pitch … prior to the game the team’s four seniors - Tim George (Quincy, Mich.), Brett Witczak (Hudsonville, Mich.), Matt Cunningham (Gregory, Mich.), and Ranck - were recognized with their parents for their contributions to the WSU baseball program ... Kaminski’s infield single in the fourth extended his hitting streak to 11 games, one shy of the team’s season-best ... WSU fell to 17-35-1 all-time against Ashland … Wayne State enters the GLIAC Tournament as the top seed and will meet Findlay in the first round Thursday at 6:00 p.m. at Dow Diamond in Midland.
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