Feb. 28, 2008

DETROIT - The Wayne State baseball team tallied 49 points to tie Saginaw Valley State for third in the 2008 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference preseason coaches poll.

Grand Valley State took five first-place votes and 60 points to lead the poll, followed by Ashland in second with 53 points and two first-place votes. The Warriors and Cardinals received one first-place vote apiece.

Mercyhurst (37), Findlay (32), Hillsdale (19), Northwood (18), and Gannon (8) rounded out the field of nine teams who will vie for the GLIAC championship as the season culminates with the conference tournament May 8-10 at Dow Diamond in Midland.

Wayne State returns 16 letterwinners from a 2007 squad which won 10 more games overall than the previous year and finished in fifth place. The Warriors are 1-1 this season after the rain-shortened GLIAC/GLVC Challenge in Nashville last weekend.