- In four games with Wayne State last weekend in Detroit, the top two hitters in the Malone lineup combined to hit .500Â while getting on base at a .529 rate
- Centerfielder Keanan Locke hit .471 (8-for-17) and scored six runs in the series...on the season, he's hitting .351 with seven homeruns, 34 RBI, and a team-high 42 runs
- Shortstop Richie Mast went 8-for-15 (.533) against Wayne State...Mast has multi-hit games in four of his last five and is batting .339 on the year with 34 runs and 25 driven in
- The 3-4-5 hitters, third baseman Jon Crank (.295, 11 HR, 44 RBI), catcher Matt Davis (.357, 6 HR, 33 RBI), and rightfielder Brenden Wells (.379, 5 HR, 37 RBI), represent one of the most dangerous middles of the lineup in the league
- Crank is seventh in GLIAC in homers and 10th in RBI while Davis is in the top-20 in both average and OBP (.431)...Wells, who has punished GLIAC pitching to the tune of a .417 average in conference, is 6th in the GLIAC in batting and 9th in OBP (.458)
- In 12 games since taking over everyday first baseman's duties, Ryan Sarbaugh is hitting .341...over that same time frame second baseman Joe Crank is hitting .333 and reaching base at a .487 clip
- Leftfielder Austin Pachan, who's been a linchpin in the number-nine spot all season, is hitting .314 with seven RBI and five runs scored in his last 11 games
- Entering the tournament, the Pioneer pitching staff has the second-best ERA (4.28) in conference games and the the third-lowest batting average against (.263)
- The starting rotation features four quality arms...righthander Joshua Hurford (3-1, 4.35 ERA) joins lefties Braun Miller (4-1, 3.57), Tyler Whitlatch (4-2, 3.88), and Roscoe Blackburn (3-4, 4.06) as likely starting pitching candidates for the weekend tournament
- Whitlatch is number one in the conference in both strikeout-to-walk ratio (45:8) and fewest walks per nine innings (1.29)...Miller is sixth in the GLIAC in ERA, third in WHIP (1.21), and first in fewest hits allowed/9 IP (6.62)
- On the season Malone is 22-2 when leading after six innings, 8-1 when leading through seven, and 7-0 when leading after eight...Malone is 8-3 in one-run games...all three losses have come on walk-offs
- The Pioneers entered last year's GLIAC Tournament as the #5 seed and were eliminated by Wayne State in their second game
Wayne State Notes:
- Led by centerfielder Griffin Harms (.372, 22 2B, 5 HR, 45 RBI), Wayne State is 6th in the GLIAC in hitting (.304)...the Warriors are 10th in the nation in doubles per game (2.41)
- Brad Baldwin (.377, 3 HR, 37 RBI), who missed the last three games last weekend is second in the GLIAC with 24 doubles
- JT Conti (.365, 2 HR, 29 RBI), Justin Kelly (.322, 3 HR, 36 RBI) and Ryan Mergener (.297, 4 HR, 27 RBI) make up the heart of the Warriors lineup
- The pitching staff for Wayne State is currently first in the GLIAC in team ERA (4.38) including a league best 4.08 ERA in conference
- Alex Kinch (8-4, 3.51 ERA), who is third in the GLIAC with 88 strikeouts, and Chris Horvath (3-5, 3.98) are both strong candidates to get the starting nod as both had solid outings vs. Malone last weekend
Final GLIAC Standings:
| #1 Grand Valley State |
22-8 |
.733 |
| #2 Ashland |
22-8 |
.733 |
| #3 Malone |
18-12 |
.600 |
| #4 Wayne State |
19-13 |
.594 |
| #5 Walsh |
17-13 |
.567 |
| #6 Hillsdale |
18-14 |
.563 |
2016 GLIAC Baseball Tournament:
The GLIAC Tournament is a double-elimination bracket that will be played over four days starting on May 12th. The GLIAC Champion will be crowned on Sunday May 15th. All games will be played at the Athletes in Action Sports Complex in Xenia, Ohio
The full schedule and list of results can be found at:
http://www.gliac.org/sports/bsb/2015-16/releases/tournament/2016
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