Tournament Bracket | Live Statistics (through Siena Heights)
ADRIAN, Mich. - The 2012 Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference baseball tournament kicks off on Wednesday, May 2 on the campus of Siena Heights University. The Panthers, under first year head coach Kevin Tidey, will be the conference's No. 2 seed in the 5-team double elimination tournament that goes through Friday. The winner receives an automatic bid to the NAIA national tournament.
Indiana Tech won the regular season title with a conference record of 22-6 and they grabbed the top seed in the upcoming WHAC Baseball Championships that are being hosted by Siena Heights this week. Davenport, in only their fourth season of sponsoring baseball, will be the No. 2 seed for the second straight year and will open play on Wednesday at 12:00pm against WHAC power Madonna University who is the No. 3 seed.
The first game of the tournament will feature Northwestern Ohio (No. 4 seed) facing off against the fifth seed Siena Heights. Indiana Tech will then play that game's winner in the semifinals of the winner's bracket along with the DU/MU game.
The tournament will run through Friday as the double elimination format will eliminate one team on Day 1 and two more on Day 2. The championship game is set for Friday, May 4 at 12:00 with a “if necessary” game to follow.
Team by Team preview
#1 Indiana Tech - The Warriors claimed their first regular season WHAC title in the last five years with a 22-6 mark in league games. Tech is led by Ignatius Mackenzie who was named NAIA Player of the Week earlier this season. The junior leads the team with a .347 batting average and has posted team highs in HR (8), 2B (14) and is second in RBI (49). On the mound, the Warriors have been paced by Tyler Snoke, Eric Zagone and Brandon Alger who have combined to post a 23-6 record with Snoke holding the lowest ERA at 2.02. Alger leads the team in strikeouts with 70 in 76.1 IP.
Season Series with DU - Davenport went 2-2 against the Warriors
#3 Madonna - The Crusaders, who saw their regular season title reign end at four seasons in a row, will come into the tournament as one of the favorites having a solid pitching staff to go along with some big bats that have produced 10 games this season in which they have plated double-digit runs. On the mound, the Crusaders have been led by junior phenom Jeremy Gooding. His 6-5 record may look average but the ace of the staff holds a 1.62 ERA and has struck out 75 batters in 83.1 IP. MU also features Matt Cook and Josh Deeg who have combined to go 12-6 this season. Offensively, the Crusaders bats are led by Dan Harder (.385 average) and Steve Pelletier (.344). MU is very active on the base-paths as they have stolen 104 bases on 133 attempts this season
Season Series with DU - Davenport went 3-1 against the Crusaders
#4 Northwestern Ohio - The Racers are making their first ever post-season appearance after starting their program in 2011. UNOH will play the first game of the tournament on Wednesday morning against host Siena Heights with the winner meeting Indiana Tech in the semifinals of the winners bracket. UNOH has been an offensive loaded team most of the season with seven different players posting a batting average over .300. Leading the way is Pichi Torres who is at .362 and he is second on the team with 33 RBI and 10 doubles. Zachary Petrick leads the way on the mound as he brings a 5-2 overall record and a starters best 2.67 ERA to the WHAC Tournament.
Season Series with DU - Davenport went 2-2 against the Racers
#5 Siena Heights - The Saints will be the host of the WHAC Tournament as they look to show off their brand new stadium built for this season. WHAC Player of the Year Cory Lehman is one to watch out for as he currently holds a batting average of .402. The shortstop, who is also an excellent fielder, leads the Saints in total bases at 107 and is second in doubles (19) and RBI (34) while leading in homeruns (5). Kyle Benschoter is also one to watch for as he is batting .355 on the season. On the mound, the home team will feature two outstanding arms in Corey Alexander and Brett Kuebler. Alexander leads the way with a 6-4 record and 2.55 ERA while leading the team with 59 strikeouts.
Season Series with DU - Davenport went 4-0 against the Saints
Live stats will be available for all games through the Siena Heights website (www.shusaints.com).
