Complete PDF Notes
Upcoming in Gray Wolves Baseball: After numerous cancellations over the past week, Lourdes hopes to finally open the 2015 season Wednesday and Thursday with a four-game series at Missouri Baptist before hosting Bluffton in the home opener on Friday.  The Gray Wolves are scheduled to close the nine games in five days stretch this weekend with a pair of twinbills against Cleary at Mercy Field.

Head Coach Andy Ham: In his fourth season on the Lourdes bench, Andy Ham has a 38-100-1 (.277) record at the helm of the Gray Wolves.  In his sixth season overall as a head baseball coach, Ham has a 63-147-1 (.301) career mark.  He is the only head coach in Lourdes program's history.

Probable Starters: Frank Shaffer (RHP, 3-3, 3.08 in 2014) will be handed the baseball in game one on Wednesday against Missouri Baptist while Drew Lepiarz (LHP, 2-4, 4.85) will toe the rubber in the second game of the twinbill.  Nate Snow (RHP, 2-2, 6.08) and Lee Lovejoy (RHP, 0-4, 6.40) are slated to start Thursday's doubleheader against the Spartans.  Zack Zsolcsak (RHP, DNP) will take the mound on Friday against Bluffton while Brandon Holt (RHP, 2-1, 3.13) and A.J. Schraffenberger (RHP, DNP) are the probables to start Saturday's twinbill against Cleary.  Shaffer and Lepiarz are then expected to return to the hill on Sunday for the second twinbill against the Cougars.

Series Notes: Lourdes has never faced Missouri Baptist, Bluffton, or Cleary on the baseball diamond.

Wrapping Up 2014: The Gray Wolves finished the 2014 season with a 14-28 record overall and an 11-20 mark in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference.  Lourdes finished in seventh place in the nine team league, missing out on a berth in the WHAC tournament.  

Scouting Missouri Baptist: The Spartans have won three straight games following a doubleheader sweep against Lindenwood-Belleville on Monday.  Orlando Olivera leads the team batting .375 while Elisha Roundtree is hitting at a .359 clip with five home runs.  Brent Zimmerman has a team-leading 18 runs batted in.  Missouri Baptist's pitching staff has a 3.29 ERA on the season.

Scouting Bluffton: The Beavers are coming off of a 7-2 victory against Alvernia last Friday to wrap up their spring trip in Fort Myers, Fla. with a .500 record.  Tyler Spalding is batting .483 with nine runs batted in while Clayton Siders hit .476 with seven RBI.  Luke Hickey batted at a .471 clip with five doubles and 11 runs scored.  Bluffton sports a 6.05 team ERA through eight games this season.

Scouting Cleary: The Cougars enter the weekend having defeated Goshen to close out the team's spring trip on Feb. 27, but have been idle since.  Cleary is in its inaugural season of collegiate baseball.

Lourdes in Season Openers: Lourdes is 1-2 in the program's first three years in season openers.  The Gray Wolves lost its inaugural in game in 2012, 11-0, at Georgetown (Ky.) before downing Taylor on the road in 2013 by the score of 6-1.  Last year Lourdes returned to Georgetown to open the year, falling 6-2 to the 23rd-ranked Tigers.

Home Openers: As Lourdes gets ready for its home opener on Friday, the Gray Wolves are 1-2 all-time in home openers as well.  A March 13th home date would mark the earliest home opener in program history.  The Gray Wolves fell to Rochester (Mich.) 3-1 on March 18, 2012 and downed Goshen 3-1 on March 15, 2013.  Lourdes fell to Trine 5-2 on March 20, 2014 in its most recent home opener.

Facing Ranked Foes: Missouri Baptist was ranked ninth in the preseason NAIA poll and will be the highest ranked opponent the Gray Wolves have ever met.  The previous highest ranked team Lourdes has played was #15 Madonna in a four-game series March 31-April 1, 2012.  They Gray Wolves are 1-10 all-time against NAIA top-25 teams, with the lone win coming as the program's first victory on March 4, 2012, 10-6 against #24 Saint Xavier.

Shaffer Earned WHAC Accolades in 2014: Frank Shaffer was named an Honorable Mention All-WHAC selection in 2014, just the third in program history.  The senior right-hander went 3-3 in 10 starts on the hill for the Gray Wolves with a 3.08 ERA.  He had one complete game and led Lourdes with 52.2 innings pitched.

New Addition to the WHAC: The Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference has expanded from nine to 10 teams in baseball for the 2015 season.  Marygrove began playing baseball this season, and will be Lourdes final opponent of the year, with the Gray Wolves traveling there April 30-May 1.

This and That: Lourdes has 33 players returning to the program from the 2014 season ... Tyler Trame is the team's top returning hitter in terms of average, batting .310 in 2014 ... Marty Ramirez led the Gray Wolves with 24 runs batted in one year ago ... Andy Kefalos tallied a team-high 13 doubles in 2014 ... Matt Olsavsky has 12 career saves in two seasons ... the Gray Wolves batted .275 as a team in 2014 with the pitching staff sporting a 5.16 ERA ... Lourdes had a team fielding percentage of .941.