Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 The Ashland University baseball team used one of the largest comebacks in the tenure of head coach John Schaly to complete a doubleheader sweep of Gannon on Monday (Mar. 3) in Winter Haven Florida. Down 8-0 after two innings in the second game, the Eagles roared back for a 15-12 win.
In the first game, the Eagles cruised to a 9-0 win riding the right arm of sophomore Alex Smith.
AU has a four-game winning streak and is 5-1. The Eagles have gone 4-0 against Gannon in Florida.
In the first game, Smith doled out six hits. He didn't walk a batter and struck out two. The Eagles backed him with an 11-hit attack. Ashland scored three runs in the first inning, two in the third and one in the fourth. The scored two insurance runs in the fifth and pushed across another run in the seventh.
Second baseman Stephen James was 2-for-2 and scored a pair of runs. Catcher Adam Murphy had a hit and three RBI. AU's lone extra-base hit was a double by Nick Edwards.
Down 8-0 in the second game, the Eagles got a huge lift from freshman lefty Derek Baker. Another run or two early in this game could have give Gannon an insurmountable lead. Baker entered and pitched five scoreless innings. He would eventually give up two runs - those came in his sixth inning of work, but by that time, the Eagles had mounted their comeback.
The Eagles scored nine runs in the sixth inning to go in front, 15-8. Gannon had one last gasp, scoiring four runs in the top of the seventh.
Ashland had 12 hits, but just three went for extra bases. The game was played at the former spring training home of the Cleveland Indians. The park measures 340 feet down the foul lines and 420 to straightaway center field. It is 380 to the gaps. Those dimensions kept long balls to a minimum.
Shortstop Austin Walts was 3-for-4 with a double, three RBI and three runs. Outfielder Mackenzie Hampshire was 2-for-3 with a double, three RBI and two runs. Third baseman Wade Kaido was 2-for-5 with a double and infielder Mike Lewandowski was 2-for-2. Lewandowski scored three runs and drove in two. Catcher Kyle Brooks was 2-for-4 and scored a pair of runs.
This has been a rugged stretch for the AU pitching staff. The first game in Florida went 11 innings and the Eagles played doubleheaders on Sunday and Monday. AU has single games each of the next three days. Tuesday, the Eagles play St. Francis (Ill.).
AU
BASE/ALK
