TU's Rudolph and Curtin Chosen As GLIAC Baseball "Player of the Week" and "Pitcher of the Week," Respectively

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BAY CITY, Mich. - Tiffin University's senior outfielder Devin Rudolph (Pickerington, Ohio) and sophomore pitcher Pat Curtin (Cincinnati, Ohio) 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:
Devin Rudolph - Tiffin
6-0, Senior, Outfielder
Pickerinton, Ohio

Devin Rudolph had a strong week, getting twice as many hits as his nearest teammate while also leading the team in doubles, on-base percentage (.632) and slugging percentage (1.000). He was also second in RBI while helping to lead TU to two wins in three tries at Grand Valley State, handing the Lakers their first losses of the GLIAC season.

"Player of the Week" Honor Roll: BBen Minard- AU, Michael Goodwin - NU, Kyle Wilson - UF,  Kevin Dore - SV, Kyle Gendron - GV,  Jamie McNeill - HC, Michael Wiseman - WS

2010 Baseball "Players of the Week": (3/17) Michael Wiseman - WS; (3/22) Cody Grice - GV; (3/29) Devin Rudolph - TU.

GLIAC Baseball Pitcher of the Week:
Pat Curtin - Tiffin
6-1, Sophomore
Cincinnati, Ohio

Pat Curtin had the strongest outing of the week for the Dragons pitching staff, firing a 5-hit shutout at Grand Valley State in a 1-0 victory that gave TU a doubleheader sweep on the road and gave the Lakers their second GLIAC loss.

"Pitcher of the Week" Honor Roll: Ryan Rothenbuhler - UF, Joe Jablonski - GV, Dan Rhodes - HC, Mark Heard - NU, Brett Shankin - WS

2010 "Pitchers of the Week": (3/17) Justin Mazur - WS; (3/22) Cory Rademacher - GV; (3/29) Pat Curtin - TU.

Ashland Eagles (14-9, 6-3 GLIAC)

The Eagles went 2-2 this past week.  Ashland is 14-9 overall and 6-3 in league play. AU traveled to Grand Valley last Wednesday (Mar. 24) and lost both games.  GVSU won the first game 6-0 and held the Eagles to three hits. In the second game, the Lakers came from behind to win the contest, 4-3 in eight innings.  Over the weekend, Ashland hosted Saginaw Valley State.  The two squads played two games on Saturday (Mar. 27) with AU winning both.  In the first game, Ashland won 13-3 and continued to hit the ball well as it won the second, 7-2. Sunday’s (Mar. 28) game was rained out.   Senior Ben Minard led the Eagles at the plate and on the mound this past week.  At the plate, Minard hit .545 on six hits.  He had a home run and had seven RBI and scored five runs.  He is batting .333 on the season and leads the team with three home runs.  On the mound, the big righthander made two appearances pitching 8.2 innings.  He went 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA.  The Eagles host Wayne State on Wednesday (Mar. 31) for a doubleheader.

Findlay Oilers (6-12, 3-6 GLIAC)

The Oilers went 3-1 last week in GLIAC play. They defeated Northwood twice on Wednesday (6-5, 5-4) and then split with Wayne State on Saturday (0-7, 4-2). Junior Ryan Rothenbuhler had a hand in two victories for the Oilers last week as he picked up a save in relief and a victory in a start. Rothenbuhler came in and got the final two outs in the Oilers 6-5 win over Northwood on Wednesday to give the team their first GLIAC victory. He then captured a 4-2 win over Wayne State on Saturday by allowing only two runs on seven hits in seven innings of work. He struck out five and walked none. On the season, Rothenbuhler ranks third in the GLIAC with 29 punch outs.

Grand Valley State Lakers (17-5, 9-2 GLIAC)

Grand Valley State is ranked 8th in the latest NCBWA poll, while the Pingbaseball DII rankings has GVSU 13th. The Lakers went 4-2 last week both overall and in league play. GVSU posted a 2.76 ERA for the week and held opponents to a .227 batting average. Sophomore outfielder Cody Grice (DeWitt, Mich.) is hitting a team-best .461 (41-89), while also leading the team in runs scored (27), RBI  (25), triples (3), home runs (4) and total bases (65). Grice has 14 multi-hit games and six multi-RBI games. After a slow start senior 2B Kyle Gendron (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child) is hitting .377 (27-77) with seven doubles, two home runs, 17 RBI and 13 runs scored. RHP Joe Jablonski (Temperence, Mich./Bedford) has allowed two runs and 10 hits in his last two outings (14.0 IP), with 11 strikeouts. In his last three starts Jablonski has 19 strikeouts. Senior RBP Jared Knuth (St. Joseph, Mich.) pitched seven innings of 6-hit ball and allowed just one run, but dropped a 1-0 decision to Tiffin.

Hillsdale Chargers (7-14, 4-6 GLIAC)

The Hillsdale College baseball team completed its best week of GLIAC competition in more than two years last week, going 4-1 while winning series from Saginaw Valley State and Northwood. The last time the Chargers won four of five games in GLIAC competition was over Ashland and Gannon to conclude the 2008 season. The team allowed a total of 16 runs in the five games last week, after allowing an average of 12 runs per game in its previous three. Junior pitcher Dan Rhodes had a win and a save last week and leads the team with a 1.76 ERA. Junior Jamie McNeill had the game-winning hit vs. Saginaw Valley State on Wednesday and a game-tying three-run home run Saturday against Northwood, in a game the Chargers would eventually win. McNeill has two hits in five of his past eight games and is on a four-game hitting streak. Hillsdale travels to Grand Valley State Wednesday, then hosts Ashland for a three-game weekend series starting Friday.

Northwood Timberwolves (10-11, 3-6 GLIAC)

Northwood went 1-5 last week against Findlay and Hillsdale. The Timberwolves stand at 10-11 overall, 3-6 in the GLIAC. NU’s last seven losses have come by a combine nine runs - five one-run losses and a pair of two-run losses. Mark Heard (Novi, Mich.) earned the win on the mound for Northwood, allowing three runs in 6 1/3 innings of work against Hillsdale . Michael Goodwin (Midland, Mich.) had a big week at the plate for the Timberwolves, batting .476 with a home run and seven RBI’s in six games played. Casey Ingle (Pinconning, Mich.) also hit well for Northwood, batting .412. NU will host Tiffin Wednesday before traveling to Wayne State this weekend.

Saginaw Valley State Cardinals (8-10, 5-4 GLIAC)

The Saginaw Valley State University baseball team lost all four games it played this past week, dropping a mid-week doubleheader at Hillsdale College 6-3 and 2-1 before losing a twinbill at Ashland University on Saturday (Mar. 27) by scores of 13-3 and 7-2.  The third game against Ashland, set for Sunday (Mar. 28), was cancelled due to inclement weather.   Kevin Dore hit .385 on the week, adding a triple in 13 at bats.  Josh Peterson also hit at a .385 clip in the four games.  Ryan Ermers posted a .364 average, including a double and three walks.  Ryan Webber hit .308 with a double and three RBI’s over the four game span.  SVSU now stands at 8-10 overall on the season with a 5-4 mark in GLIAC play.  The Cardinals return to the diamond this week, as they host the University of Findlay Wednesday (Mar. 31) for a mid-week doubleheader at 2:00 pm before traveling to take-on Tiffin University for a three-game series, set to begin Friday (Apr. 2) at 1:00 pm.

Tiffin Dragons (6-20, 3-7 GLIAC)

The Dragons greatly improved their team pitching this past week, posting a 3.67 team ERA in five games. Pat Curtin and Jordan Liette posted 0.00 ERA while Donnie Smith also had a 2.57 ERA in his victory over Grand Valley State, firing a 3-hit complete game victory in a 7-2 win. Kyle Blackford went 0-2 but posted a 2.84 ERA in 2 appearances (1 start). Pat Curtin hit .417 as well, joining Devin Rudolph as the top hitters for TU, which hit .257 last week. Devin Rudolph had a strong week, getting twice as many hits as his nearest teammate while also leading the team in doubles, on-base percentage (.632) and slugging percentage (1.000). He was also second in RBI while helping to lead TU to two wins in three tries at Grand Valley State, handing the Lakers their first losses of the GLIAC season. Pat Curtin had the strongest outing of the week for the Dragons pitching staff, firing a 5-hit shutout at Grand Valley State in a 1-0 victory that gave TU a doubleheader sweep on the road and gave the Lakers their second GLIAC loss. Tiffin University got solid pitching performances from Trevor Woodjetts and Kyle Blackford but could not get enough run support, as Wayne State won 5-4 and 3-1 in GLIAC action.

Wayne State Warrior (10-11, 4-3 GLIAC)

The Warriors went 3-2 last week, including a sweep against Tiffin on Wednesday.  With a single in the fifth inning of Wednesday’s 5-4 win, senior outfielder Ryan LaPensee became WSU’s all-time hits leader (216), surpassing former shortstop Frank Jeney.  The Warriors swept the Dragons with a 3-1 victory in the second game of the doubleheader.  This came just one day after former head coach Jay Alexander’s return to his alma mater, as Wayne State battled Eastern Michigan to extra innings but ultimately fell 10-8 in the 10th.  Michael Wiseman’s three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth kept hope alive for the Warriors.  WSU split a twinbill Saturday at Findlay, winning the first game 7-0 behind a three-hit gem from Brett Shankin.  Wayne State will travel to Ashland on Wednesday before hosting Northwood this weekend for four games.