The Ashland University baseball team walked off No. 20 Northwood in the eighth inning of Game 1, then got a complete game shutout from junior right-hander
Josh Stover in Game 2 as the Eagles swept a doubleheader from visiting Northwood on Saturday (April 17) afternoon at Donges Field, 7-6 and 13-0.
The Eagles (12-10, 7-4 GLIAC) climbed past Northwood (15-7, 6-5 GLIAC) in the conference standings and are tied with Davenport for second place.
Ashland led Game 1, 6-5, and had the Timberwolves down to their final strike when Matt Magno hit a solo home run to right to tie the game and ultimately send it to extra innings.
Junior right-hander
Perry Bewley bounced back from giving up the homer and retired Northwood in order in the top of the eighth.
In the bottom half, junior
Logan Stoldt reached on an error, then a fielder's choice and a single by junior
Tim Zeller put runners on second and third for junior
Austin Eifrid, who ripped a double off the right-field wall to score junior
Dillan Smith and give the Eagles the win.
It was Ashland's first walk-off win of the season.
Smith had a pair of RBI hits in the game, his second one tying the game at 4 in the fourth inning of what was a back-and-forth affair.
After the Timberwolves regained the lead in the top of the fifth, the Eagles scored two in the bottom half with the help of a Northwood error to take a 6-5 lead.
Bewley came on in the sixth and kept Northwood off the board, then retired the first two in the seventh before Magno's homer.
Bewley (2-1) earned the win, going 2 2/3 innings and striking out three. Junior
Jacob Harsany got the start and gave up four runs on six hits in three innings while senior
Josh Smith and junior
Alex Bish also worked in relief.
Jake Jekielek (1-1) suffered the loss for the Timberwolves, giving up the unearned run in the eighth inning.
Junior
Alex Whipple led the offense with three hits while Stoldt and Smith each drove in a pair.
In Game 2, Stover (2-4) set the tone and the rest of the team followed.
He allowed just four hits, walked four and struck out four across his seven innings. He was in command from the start and the AU offense gave him single runs in the first and second innigns before tacking on three in the fourth to give him a five-run cushion.
The Eagles put the game away with eight runs on just two hits in the sixth as they burned through four Northwood pitchers in the inning and sent 13 batters to the plate.
Zeller reached base four times, going 3-for-3 with a double, a walk and three RBI while Whipple, Smith and senior
Garett Robberts each drove in three runs.
Sophomore
Seth Schroeder had an RBI double to extend his hitting streak to eight games, matching Eifrid for the AU season high.
Drew Schultz (2-1) suffered the loss for Northwood, allowing five runs in 3 1/3 innings.
The Eagles and Timberwolves will square off one more time on Sunday (April 18) at 1 p.m. at Donges Field.
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