Cardinals Picked 4th in the GLIAC North

Courtesy of the GLIAC

BAY CITY, Mich. – The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) baseball coaches selected Grand Valley State University to win the league title in the 2012 GLIAC Baseball Preseason Poll.

GVSU finished on top of the 2012 GLIAC Preseason poll having won five of the last six GLIAC regular season titles after posting a 34-1 mark in league play last season.  The Lakers garnered 80 points and eight first-place votes.

Wayne State University placed second in the poll with 68 points, edging out Ashland University, which placed third with 65 points and one first-place vote.  Saginaw Valley State University came in fourth with 56 points, followed by Ohio Dominican University with 47 points in fifth place.

Northwood University claimed sixth place with 34 points, while Tiffin University earned one first-place nod and 32 points to place seventh.

Lake Erie College finished eighth with 31 points, followed by Hillsdale College in ninth (22 points) and the University of Findlay in 10th (15 points).

Saginaw Valley Overview: The Saginaw Valley State University baseball team will look to improve on their fourth place finish in the GLIAC in 2011 as they prepare for a title run in 2012. Head coach Walt Head enters his 30th season as skipper of the Cardinals one season after eclipsing the 800 win plateau.

The Cardinals will be an experienced squad in 2012, losing just one starter from last season. Saginaw Valley ace Carson Beauchaine is coming off of a strong 2011 campaign in which he earned All-Region and All-GLIAC recognition. Beauchaine finished the season with a 6-4 record and a team-leading 2.21 ERA, while tossing team-high 61.0 innings, striking-out a team-best 48 batters and holding opponents to a team-best .238 batting average.

Junior outfielder Kyle O'Boyle received All-GLIAC honors, batting .335 with 52 hits, 24 runs, 16 doubles, six home runs and 46 RBI's. O'Boyle finished 2011 in the top 100 nationally in three categories: doubles, RBI, and slugging percentage. Shortstop Matt Hunt leads the SVSU infield, coming off of a solid season in 2011, where he batted .314 and a .431 on-base percentage with 50 hits, 27 RBI's and 29 walks. Senior outfielder Ryan Ermers led the team with a .353 batting average.  His 48 hits were good for third on the squad. Hunt and Ermers also received All-GLIAC honors.

The 2011 Cardinals got off to a slow start at 3-14, but finished the season strong with a 25-24 record, including 18-15 in the GLIAC. The fourth place finish was the best finish for SVSU since they placed third in 2007.

Coaching: Walt Head has a career record of 818-580-6 as he enters his 30th season as head coach of the Cardinals.

2011 Record: 25-24 overall, 18-15 GLIAC

SVSU will begin their 2012 season on March 3, when they travel to the RussMatt Invitational in Florida.  The Cardinals will play 11 contests while in Florida from March 3-10.

 Click here to view this release on the GLIAC web site