GLIAC Tournament
vs. #2 Wayne State
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XENIA, Ohio-- The 2017 GLIAC Baseball Tournament is set to begin on Thursday, May 11th at Grady Field in Xenia, Ohio, and the fifth-seeded Grand Valley State baseball team (29-21) will open their defense of the 2016 title with a 2:00 p.m. matchup against second-seeded Wayne State (31-17). 

Grand Valley State has been middling as of late, winning just four of their last 10 games and carrying 20+ losses into the tournament for the first time in program history. The Lakers have won three of the past four tournament titles but face an uphill battle in this year's tournament. That test begins with the Warriors, who finished second in the GLIAC standings this season with a 20-10 conference record. In a previous four-game series, the Lakers and Warriors split the series. The Warriors scored just eight total runs across the four games, but held the Lakers to 17 total runs and shut out GVSU in the middle two games of the series. 

The series was indicative of each team's strengths, as it showed the legitimacy of the Warrior pitching in the two Wayne State victories while showcasing the explosive offensive potential of the Lakers in the GVSU wins. As a team, Wayne State owns the GLIAC's fifth best ERA at 4.83, but leads the conference in strikeouts and yields a low amount of walks as well, all while surrendering the second fewest amount of hits to opponents. Wayne State is led by a pair of strong starters in Chris Horvath and Jared Tobey, both with five wins, and have also gotten notable contributions from All-GLIAC honoree Nolan Dill as well. Relief pitchers Tyler Thompson and Taylor Horn have combined to save 18 games for Wayne State on the season, and have posted an 82/19 K/BB ratio. 

At the plate, Wayne State has posted a .273 average as a team, a figure which is second-lowest in the GLIAC, and has scored the second-least amount of runs this season. The Warriors are led in hitting by infielder Brad Baldwin, who is batting .389 on the season while recording 65 hits (20 doubles) and driving in 38 runs. Outfielder Griffin Harms has posted a .320 average with 18 doubles and has driven in 43 runs for the Warriors. In the series between the teams earlier this month, the Warrior offense scored just eight runs against the Laker pitching staff, which has posted a 4.81 ERA this season. Junior Ryan Arnold has emerged as a viable front-end of the rotation starter, posting a 5-2 record with a 3.21 ERA in 11 starts this season. Closer Matt Williams has converted 8-10 save opportunities as closer this season, and is just one save shy of tying the NCAA Division II career saves record, held by former Laker Brad Zambron. 

At the dish, left fielder Seth Johnson is in the midst of a breakout season in which he has amassed 69 hits, 40 runs scored, 35 runs batted in and 21 extra-base hits. Three other Lakers (Alex Young. Connor Glick and Austin LaDoux) have tallied more than 50 hits as well, as the Lakers average 10.3 hits per game and 6.8 runs per contest. Additionally, the Lakers have tallied 42 home runs and 112 doubles as a team this season, totals that rank fourth and second in the GLIAC, respectively. 

In the other matchups in the tournament, top-seeded Northwood University will face six seed Hillsdale in the opening game of the tournament, and third-seeded Tiffin will play the fourth seed Walsh Cavaliers in the 5:30 P.M game on Thursday.