KINGSPORT, Tenn. – The Indiana Tech baseball heads into the postseason on Tuesday for the sixth time under head coach Kip McWilliams as they face off with University of Rio Grande (Ohio) in the 2016 NAIA National Championships Opening Round. The Warriors, seeded fourth in the Kingsport Bracket, will kick off the action at 11 a.m. with the fifth-seeded Red Storm from Hunter Wright Stadium.
 
Indiana Tech (39-18, 19-12 WHAC) 
 
Tuesday, May 17, 11 a.m. vs. University of Rio Grande (Ohio) (37-23, 17-11 KIAC) – Kingsport, Tennessee (Hunter Wright Stadium)
Monday, May 17, 6:30 p.m. vs. Tennessee Wesleyan OR Tuesday, May 18, 11 a.m. vs. Middle Georgia State/St. Thomas – Kingsport, Tennessee (Hunter Wright Stadium)
Tuesday, May 18-Friday, May 20 – Kingsport, Tennessee (Hunter Wright Stadium)
 
Following the Warriors: Live stats will be available for each game of the Opening Round. Links can be found at www.IndianaTechWarriors.com or http://www.aacsports.com/. The Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) and Kingsport Convention and Visitors Bureau is the official host of the Kingsport Bracket and a tournament central page can be found at AACSports.com. Be sure to follow the Warriors on Twitter at @INTechWarriors and @INTechBaseball while @AACSports will have live updates throughout the tournament.

Head Coach Kip McWilliams: Now in his ninth season at the helm for the Warriors baseball program, Kip McWilliams as an overall record of 309-198-1, with nine appearances in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Championship game and six trips to the NAIA National Championship. While at Tech, the Indiana graduate has won four WHAC Tournament titles and one regular season title in addition to making postseason appearances six times, once in the old regional format and five times making to the NAIA Opening Round. He has coached 81 WHAC All-Academic honorees, 36 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes, 32 WHAC Players of the Week, 27 Honorable Mention All-WHAC selections, 22 All-Conference WHAC members, 11 WHAC Gold Glove recipients, three WHAC Players of the Year, three Honorable Mention All-Americans, two Warriors of the Month, one WHAC Pitcher of the Year, one Preseason All-American and one Second-Team All-American in 2015 graduate Romer Portes.
 
Scouting the Opposition: Rio Grande – The Red Storm come into the postseason as the fifth-seed in the Kingsport Bracket after capturing the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC) Tournament Championship and having won 10 of their last 11 games, including posting a 4-1 record in the KIAC Tournament to clinch their second straight trip to the Opening Round. Daryin Lewis leads the team in hitting with a .427 average and owns a 10-4 record on the mound with a 2.83 ERA and 64 strikeouts. Lance Montano paces the team in hits (73) and RBI's (51). Kirk Yates has 49 RBI's while smashing eight homers and 15 doubles for a team-best .617 slugging percentage.
 
Series Notes: Rio Grande – The Warriors are 1-2 against Rio Grande since 2006, most recently falling 10-5 on March 13 in Ormond Beach, Florida. Tech's lone win came back on March 21, 2009 when they won 8-4.

Last Time Out: The Orange and Black went 4-2 in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Tournament in Grand Rapids on May 9-12 to clinch an automatic berth to the NAIA Opening Round with an appearance in the title game against regular season champion Madonna. Tech would defeat the Crusaders, 7-4, to force a decisive championship game where they fell, 4-2.
 
Picking up the Awards: Senior catcher/third baseman Brian Hakes was named First-Team All-Conference at the WHAC Tournament while senior pitcher James McReynolds, senior second baseman Mark Carpenter, junior left fielder Charlie Sipe and freshman first baseman Glen McClain were named to the Second-Team.
 
Back in the Postseason: The Warriors are 8-10 since the NAIA went to the Opening Round format in 2009, with all of their appearances coming under McWilliams' tenure. This is the Orange and Black's first appearance in the postseason since the 2013 season, when they went 2-2 in the Montgomery Bracket.
 
Offensive Machine: Hakes has been the most consistent and dangerous Warrior hitter all season long. The Decatur, Indiana native leads the team in average (.387), hits (74), doubles (22), triples (5), RBI's (64), slugging percentage (.712), on-base percentage (.502) and hit-by-pitches (20).
 
300 Win Club: McWilliams picked up his 300th career win on May 1 against Siena Heights with a 5-0 victory over the Saints in the first game of the doubleheader. The ninth-year skipper for the Orange and Black has never won less than 29 games in a season while guiding his team to double-digit wins in WHAC play each season. The Warriors have never missed a conference tournament under McWilliams and have never finished worse than fourth in any year.
 
A Look at the Bracket: Joining Tech in Kingsport is Tennessee Wesleyan, the number one seed in the bracket and the AAC regular season champion, comes in with a record of 45-12. The second seed in the bracket is Middle Georgia State, one of 14 at-large teams in the tournament. The third seed is also an at-large bid, St. Thomas of Florida.
 
Dominating at the Top: The duo of senior James McReynolds and junior Jared Harvey have been the aces of the Warriors pitching staff all season long. Harvey leads the team in strikeouts (60) and innings pitched (66.0) while sporting a 5-1 mark with a 2.45 ERA. McReynolds is holding opposing hitters to a team-low .197 batting average and leads the Orange and Black rotation with a 2.33 ERA and 7-2 record.
 
Streak Updates: Hakes and McClain currently have the best hitting and on-base streak on the team, with the former holding a season-best 12 game hit and on-base streak while the latter has reach base safely and also recorded a hit in eight straight games. Carpenter has reached in seven straight games now, one shy of his season-best.
 
Power Surge: Junior right fielder has been on a power tear since the calendar turned to May, clobbering five home runs, including three in the WHAC Tournament, while driving in 15 runs in 11 games. The Anderson, Indiana native slugged .625 in the WHAC Tournament and is now hitting .305 on the season while slugging .535. He now leads the team in homers (11) and is second in RBI's with 54.
 
Throwing Up the Zero's: Senior Zach Sailors has now gone 12 scoreless innings without giving up a run, with half of those innings coming in relief appearances during the WHAC Tournament May 9-12 in Grand Rapids. The Wabash, Indiana native allowed just four hits during the tournament and picked up his first save of the season in a 9-5 win against Concordia on day one.
 
Other Tournament Success: Junior Tyler Wells and freshman Glen McClain were both spectacular during the WHAC Championships, with Wells throwing a complete game against Davenport in an elimination game, limiting the Panthers to two runs (one earned), on seven hits. McClain continued his impressive first season with the Warriors as he had a slash line of .455/.520/.545 in Grand Rapids while picking up 10 hits, two doubles and drawing three walks in 22 at-bats and playing a solid first base.