Box Score XENIA, Ohio – Ashland University's baseball team bowed out of the 2015 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament on Sunday (May 10), losing the championship game to Grand Valley State, 15-6, at Grady's Field at the Athletes in Action Sports Complex.
The Eagles are 36-17, and will await a call for a spot in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Tournament. The selection show will be at 10 p.m. on Sunday on NCAA.com. Ashland was the sixth-ranked team in the Midwest Regional rankings each of the last two weeks, and six teams in each region qualify for the postseason.
Ashland got off to an inauspicious start on Sunday, as Laker Matt Williams hit a two-out grand slam in the top of the first inning. It was Williams' second grand slam against AU in as many days.
The Eagles rallied with a run in the bottom of the first, getting their own two-out run-scoring hit from freshman catcher Ryan Lowe – a single to score junior first baseman Mackenzie Hampshire.
Grand Valley got the run back in the top of the third on a Williams RBI single, but the Eagles made it a 5-2 game after three on another RBI single from Lowe to score Hampshire.
The Lakers, however, put up their second four-run inning in the top of the fourth, capped by Williams' sixth RBI of the contest on a single, and two more runs in the top of the fifth, for an 11-2 advantage.
Sophomore designated hitter Steve Mowry drove in Hampshire with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, but GVSU continued to put up crooked numbers, posting two more runs in the top of the sixth for a 13-3 lead.
After scoring the first three runs, Hampshire got into the RBI act, hitting a two-run single up the middle with two outs in the bottom of the sixth to cut the deficit to 13-5. The Lakers scored a run in the top of the seventh and eighth, then James hit a solo opposite-field homer in the bottom of the eighth for the game's final margin.
Hampshire and Lowe each had three of Ashland's 13 hits, and each drove in two runs.
Lowe, Hampshire, James, sophomore pitcher Brandyn Sittinger and junior pitcher Jake Baldwin all earned spots on the All-GLIAC Tournament Team. Williams earned tournament Most Valuable Player honors.
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