Western Wayne Today

Wayne State University's baseball team is set to face Parkside in a four-game series this weekend. The games on Friday and Sunday will be held at the College of Lake County in Grayslake, Illinois, while Saturday's doubleheader will take place at Augie Schmidt Field in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Earlier this season, Wayne State defeated Parkside in a doubleheader at Harwell Field with scores of 6-2 and 10-1. Historically, the Warriors have dominated the Rangers, winning 18 consecutive games since April 2019. Following their previous encounter with Wayne State, Parkside split two games against Davenport and won two out of four against Grand Valley State.

Redshirt senior catcher Kyle Ray was recognized as GLIAC Player of the Week for his performance against Saginaw Valley State. Ray achieved a .583 batting average over three games with a .643 on-base percentage and a 1.167 slugging percentage. Notably, he contributed significantly in game two by hitting a go-ahead three-run home run.

In their recent matchup against Saginaw Valley State on Tuesday, Wayne State lost after an intense game that ended with a solo home run by Jeff Reseigh from Saginaw Valley in the ninth inning. Despite leading by six runs early on, Wayne State ultimately fell short.

The Warriors' offense has been led by several players maintaining high batting averages including Bennett Hitzelberger (.387), Tony Hatzigeorgiou (.368), and Kyle Ray (.359). Their pitching staff has been supported by Karter Fitzpatrick (3.35 ERA) among others.

Parkside enters the series with a team batting average of .266 and an ERA of 7.28. Key players include Andrew Harris and Peter Fusek offensively while Kaleb Schulist leads their pitching efforts with an impressive 2.97 ERA.