Complete PDF Notes
Upcoming in Gray Wolves Baseball: The 2017 baseball season starts early for Lourdes as the Gray Wolves begin Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play this weekend traveling to Davenport for a three-game series.  Regular season fall baseball is being implemented for the first time in the WHAC this season.

Head Coach Jeremy Snow: In his second season on the Lourdes bench, Jeremy Snow has a 15-36 (.294) record at the helm of the Gray Wolves, as well as in his career as a collegiate head coach.  He is the second head coach in Lourdes program's history, and interim tag removed from his title during the offseason.

Probable Starters: Lourdes rotation for this weekend's three-game series at Davenport is extremely tentative based upon the way the first games play out.  Matt York (1-0, 2.25 in 2016) may be handed the baseball to open the season on Saturday afternoon while Kolby Rogge is slated to make his first Gray Wolf start in the opener on Sunday.  The starter for the final game of the series is still to be determined.

Series Notes: Lourdes and Davenport have met 19 times previously, with the Panthers winning all 19 contests.  Last season Davenport swept a four-game series at Mercy Field 3-2, 9-1, 6-0, and 5-1 in late March.  The Panthers hold a 11-0 series edge in games played in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Wrapping Up Last Season: Lourdes finished the 2016 campaign 15-36 overall and 9-23 in the WHAC, finishing in eighth place.  The Gray Wolves finished the season strong, winning five of their final eight contests.  Garrett Jex led the team batting .303 while Nick Toth drove home a season-high 24 runs.  Brandon Holt led the pitching staff with a 4-4 record and a 2.18 earned run average.

Scouting Davenport: The Panthers finished second in the WHAC in 2016 with a 43-17 record overall and a 25-6 league mark.  Davenport advanced to the championship game of the NAIA National Opening Round before falling twice to Bellevue.  Brandon Larkin-Guilfoyle is the team's top returning hitter after batting .338 with 30 runs batted in last spring.  

A New Look to the WHAC: The Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference has several new looks as the new season begins.  For the first time ever, fall baseball has come to the WHAC.  Each member school will play three regular season three-game series which will count toward the year-end record.  In addition, each conference series has been shortened from four games to three this year, but all three contests will be scheduled for nine innings.  Finally, there are two new additions to WHAC baseball.  Lawrence Tech is playing baseball on campus for the first time while Rochester (Mich.) joins the conference as an affiliate member for baseball only.

Lourdes in Season Openers: The Gray Wolves are 1-4 all-time in season openers with the lone victory coming Feb. 14, 2013 at Taylor.  Lourdes played on the road in the season opener each of its first four seasons before playing a neutral site opener in Florida against Cleary last year, falling to the Cougars 6-2 in game one.

Conference Openers: Lourdes is looking for a win in its WHAC opener for the first time, going 0-5 all-time in such games.  The Gray Wolves have faced Davenport in the WHAC opener in three of their five seasons, including last year when Lourdes suffered a 3-2 loss on the road.

Riggs Earned Gold Glove Honors: Dallas Riggs earned WHAC Gold Glove honors as an outfielder last season for the Gray Wolves.  In his first season at Lourdes, the Gray Wolf centerfielder did not record an error in 133 chances, and tallied four outfield assists, two of which led to double plays.

Looking to Increase the Offense: Lourdes batted just .224 as a team in 2016 while scoring just 144 runs (2.8 per game).  George Pastor and Glen Crabtree are the team's top returning hitters from one season ago.  Pastor hit .245 with 19 runs batted in while Crabtree batted .238 with 10 doubles.

Bloom Solid Out of the Pen: Liam Bloom may be Lourdes' top returning arm out of the bullpen after posting just a 1.45 earned run average in 16 appearances as a freshman.  Opponents batted just .264 against him in 18.2 innings on the hill.

Solid Starters: A.J. Schraffenberger and Bill Laranga are the top two returning starting pitchers for the Gray Wolves after logging a combined 128.2 innings last spring.  Schraffenberger went 3-8 with a 4.22 ERA while Laranga won a pair of contests and sported a 4.94 ERA.

Lots of New Faces: Lourdes enters the season with 18 players on its roster that have never appeared in a varsity contest for the Gray Wolves.

This and That: Lourdes is 67-159-1 all-time entering its sixth season of baseball .. the Gray Wolves are 34-115-1 in WHAC play and 22-84-1 on the road all-time ... Lourdes is 8-8 in extra inning contests ... the Gray Wolves enter the weekend with a two-game winning streak.