Western Wayne Today

Wayne State University is set to host Grand Valley State in a significant four-game baseball series at Harwell Field from Friday through Sunday. The Wayne State Warriors, with a record of 23-13 overall and 12-6 in the GLIAC, currently hold a narrow lead over the Grand Valley State Lakers, who stand at 18-16 overall and 10-6 in the conference standings. Both teams are chasing Saginaw Valley State, which leads the league.

In their previous encounter this season on March 30 in Allendale, Wayne State and Grand Valley State each secured a win in their doubleheader. The Warriors took the first game with a score of 5-3 but lost the second match 6-1. This upcoming series marks Grand Valley's first visit to Detroit since 2022, where Wayne State has historically performed well against them.

Grand Valley ranks third out of six teams in batting average within the conference at .282 but holds the top ERA at 4.48. Notably, pitchers Nick Rutkowski and Mike Morawski have been standout performers for GVSU with ERAs of 2.29 and 3.26 respectively.

Offensively, Kyle Nott has been a key player for Grand Valley with a .355 batting average, placing him tenth in the league. Alongside Nott, Jonas Gulbrandsen (.309) and Brendan Guciardo (.301) are other regulars maintaining averages above .300. Gulbrandsen leads his team across multiple categories including home runs (8) and RBI (32).

Grand Valley's performance away from home has been mixed with an even split of wins and losses at neutral venues and a challenging record on true road games. Meanwhile, Wayne State has shown strength at home this spring season with five wins out of eight games played.