TU's Rudolph and and AU's Ritson 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 Ashland University' senior pitcher Austin Ritson (Toledo, 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
Pickerington, Ohio

Devin Rudolph had his strongest week of the season, battling a blistering .714 while leading TU to a 4-1 week. He led the team in runs, hits, RBI, slugging pct., posted a .708 on-base pct. He led the team to a doubleheader sweep of Findlay on the road and then returned home to take two of three from Ashland.  

"Player of the Week" Honor Roll: Ben Minard -  AU, Adam Rider - NU, Dustin Zielaskiewicz - UF,   Kyle Gendron - GV,  John Bonvillian - HC, Paul LaMantia - 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.

GLIAC Baseball Pitcher of the Week:
Austin Ritson - Ashland
5-10, Senior
Toledo, Ohio

Senior Austin Ritson went 2-0 this past week, pitching two complete games.  For the week, he pitched 16.0 innings with a 1.69 ERA.  Maybe even more impressive was that Ritson struck out 11 batters and did not walk an opponent.  He improved his record on the season to 4-2.  He has struck out 34 batters and walked only nine.

"Pitcher of the Week" Honor Roll: Darell Thobe- UF, Charlie Fisher - HC, Trevor Woodjetts- TU, Joe Jablonski - GV, Mark Heard - NU, Brady Cooper - 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.

Ashland Eagles (20-13, 10-7 GLIAC)

The Eagles went 3-2 this past week as they played five games on the road.  AU swept a doubleheader at Wheeling Jesuit last Monday (Apr. 5).  AU won the first game, 12-1, and the second game, 15-2.  Over the weekend (Apr. 10-11), Ashland lost two-out-of-three at Tiffin.  TU swept the doubleheader on Saturday, 12-6 and 17-14. On Sunday, AU won the nine-inning game 15-2.  Senior first baseman Ben Minard had a stellar week for Ashland this past week. He batted .600 with 12 hits, one double, four home runs and 16 RBI. He hit his four home runs in four different games, including a grand slam against Wheeling Jesuit.  Senior Austin Ritson went 2-0 this past week, pitching two complete games. For the week, he pitched 16.0 innings with a 1.69 ERA. Maybe even more impressive was that Ritson struck out 11 batters and did not walk an opponent. He improved his record on the season to 4-2.  Coming into the week senior Jacob Petkac was the third toughest player in the nation to strike out as he only strikes out once every 44 at bats. He improved those numbers for the week as he batted 15 times without striking out.  This week, AU plays five games with all being played at Ashland.

Findlay Oilers (9-21, 5-14 GLIAC)

The Oilers went 2-3 last week. They were swept in a twin bill at home by Tiffin and won 2-of-3 games on the road at Hillsdale. Sophomore Dustin Zielaskiewicz led the way after hitting .538 with seven runs batted in and four runs scored during the week. On the season, Ziealskiewicz is hitting .313 and is a perfect 10-for-10 in the stolen base department. His stolen base total is the fourth best in the GLIAC. Junior Jason Reitenbach leads the GLIAC with 15 stolen bases. He is also hitting .315 on the year with three homeruns and a team-high 19 runs batted in.

Grand Valley State Lakers (24-7, 16-4 GLIAC)

#10 Grand Valley State went 2-2 in GLIAC play this week, with all four games being played against Northwood. After getting multiple games rained out during the week, the Lakers split a doubleheader on Saturday (14-8 win, 7-6 loss) and then split another doubleheader on Sunday, defeating the Timberwolves 8-3 in a nine-inning game and then dropping a 10-6 seven-inning decision in game two. The Lakers are fourth in Division II in batting average, hitting .373 as a team, and sophomore third baseman Brian Robinson is tied for 33rd in the country with a .545 on-base percentage. Sophomore outfielder Cody Grice is tied for 21st in the country in batting average (.468). Junior pitcher Joe Jablonski had a complete game nine-inning victory on Sunday against Northwood, allowing only one earned run while striking out five, and he currently leads the GLIAC in ERA at 2.09. The Lakers have a busy week coming up, as they head to Lewis University on Tuesday (Apr. 13) for an in-region doubleheader against the Flyers, before traveling to Wayne State for two on Wednesday (Apr. 14) and to Ashland on Apr. 17 and 18.

Hillsdale Chargers (8-22, 5-14 GLIAC)

The Hillsdale College baseball team snapped a seven-game losing streak with a last at-bat 6-5 win over Findlay on Saturday. Sophomore John Bonvillian, who has a nine-game hitting streak, hit a game-winning single that scored Adam Connell with the winning run. Bonvillian has hits in 14 of his last 15 games. Freshman Mike Vanchieri hit his third home run of the season during the weekend, and leads the team with a .388 batting average. Junior Anthony Giarmo was a home run shy of hitting for the cycle Sunday, getting a single, double and triple to raise his batting average to .333 for the season. The Chargers’ opponents have hit 30 home runs this season, compared to nine for Hillsdale. Head coach Paul Noce is eight wins shy of 300 for his career. Hillsdale will play five straight road games, starting with Wednesday’s doubleheader at Tiffin.

Northwood Timberwolves (14-17, 7-12 GLIAC)

Northwood split four games against Grand Valley State this weekend. The Timberwolves are now 14-17 overall, 7-12 in the GLIAC. Northwood stands in sixth place in the GLIAC. Adam Rider (Midland, Mich./Bullock Creek) had a strong week at the plate for the Timberwolves, batting .647 with 11 hits. In Saturday’s doubleheader, Rider went 7-8 overall. Brett Lechner (Midland, Mich./Dow) drove in four runs in Sunday’s 10-6 win and led the team with seven RBI’s for the series. Mark Heard (Novi, Mich.) had the best start of the weekend for the Timberwolves despite getting a no-decision , he allowed one earned run in six innings of work on Saturday. NU will now play 12 straight road games, beginning with this week’s road contests at Saginaw Valley State and Findlay.

Saginaw Valley State Cardinals (11-15, 8-9 GLIAC)

The Saginaw Valley State University baseball team was swept over the weekend at Wayne State University.  The Cardinals lost a pair of games on Saturday by scores of 8-4 and 8-3, respectively before dropping a 7-2 contest on Sunday to the Warriors.  Kevin Dore improved his average to .461 on the year, hitting .545 on the week, adding three runs and three RBI’s.  Chase Coulter posted a .500 average in the three contests, adding a double and a run scored.  Josh Peterson hit .364 with a double and a pair of RBI’s for the Cardinals, while Ryan Webber and Mike VanAlst each hit at a .333 clip, combining for three RBI’s on the weekend.  The Cardinals are currently third in the GLIAC in hitting with a .351 team average, and have three players in the top six in batting, as Dore (.461), Ryan Ermers (.449) and Webber (.440) all hold averages over .400 for SVSU.  Saginaw travels to Alma for a 2:00 pm game on Tuesday before hosting Northwood for a doubleheader on Wednesday and Hillsdale for a weekend series.

Tiffin Dragons (12-24, 9-11 GLIAC)

TU tore it up at the plate, batting .402 as a team during their 4-1 week. Devin Rudolph had his strongest week of the season, battling a blistering .714 while leading TU to a 4-1 week. He led the team in runs, hits, RBI, slugging pct., posted a .708 on-base pct. He led the team to a doubleheader sweep of Findlay on the road and then returned home to take two of three from Ashland. Jason Bailey hit .500 with 9 RBI and 9 runs scored in 5 games, while Tom Touris hit .455. Tiffin University got tons of offense  in two victories over Ashland, capping two wins with a dramatic 3-run walk-off home run by Chris Pistorio  in game two. TU opened the second game by taking a 10-4 lead but could not hold it, allowing 5 runs in the top of the 7th inning to tie the score at 14-14. Pistorio drilled the first pitch he saw for a three-run bomb to win the game. Jordan Liette got the win in relief. Jason Bailey had a huge game, stroking a double, triple, and home run for 5 RBI, while Jordan Chiero had 2 hits with a home run for 5 RBI. In game two, the Dragons broke a 6-6 tie with 8 runs over the final two innings. Trevor Woodjetts pitched well, allowing just 2 earned runs over 7 innings of work.

Wayne State Warriors (20-12, 14-3 GLIAC)

The Warriors went 4-1 last week. After losing to Eastern Michigan 6-4, Wayne State proceeded to win one game against Hillsdale (17-5) and three vs. Saginaw Valley (8-4, 8-3, and 7-2) to move into first place in the GLIAC. For the week, WSU outscored its opponents 44-20 with a team batting average of .381. Individually, Kyle Vesey (8-15), John Skaggs (9-18) and Phil Swanson (7-14) all hit above .500 with Skaggs driving in four runs and Swanson scoring seven times. Paul LaMantia had a home run and 11 RBI while Alex Trojan hit the first grand slam of his career. The Warrior pitchers also had a solid week, posting a team-ERA of 3.55. Brady Cooper and Tyler Loehr both had strong outings this week. Loehr tossed five innings and gave up two runs while striking out four to pick up a win against SVSU. Cooper pitched a complete game on Sunday, scattering seven hits and striking out four Cardinal batters while surrendering just two unearned runs to earn his third win of the season. Pitcher Justin Mazur leads the GLIAC with 43 strikeouts.