Ashland University baseball head coach
John Schaly won his 1,200
th career game as the Eagles held off visiting Saginaw Valley, 3-2, on Friday (May 14) afternoon at Donges Field.
Schaly, who now has 837 wins as Ashland's head coach, is the 39
th NCAA baseball coach to reach 1,200 career wins, regardless of division. He is in his 34
th season of coaching overall.
On Friday, the Eagles (20-16, 15-10 GLIAC) rode an outstanding start by freshman right-hander
Justin Dyksma to their win.
Dyksma (2-3) worked seven innings and allowed just one run on five hits with eight strikeouts and no walks. It was the fifth time in his last six starts that he did not give up a free pass.
He kept Saginaw's hitters off balance all game by controlling his fastball on both corners and using a wipeout breaking ball as his out pitch.
The Eagles spotted him a 1-0 lead in the first as junior
Austin Eifrid led off with a double and scored on an RBI single by senior
Garett Robberts.
Ashland tacked on two more in the third. With runners on first and second, junior
Alex Whipple hit a rope went under the glove of right fielder Thomas Loftus, allowing both runners to score and give the Eagles a 3-0 lead.
Dyksma retired nine in a row going into the seventh inning when Martin Money led off with an opposite field homer to cut the margin to 3-1.
Dyksma would give up two more singles in the inning, but got a strikeout and a groundout to keep it a two-run game.
Junior left-hander
Alex Bish got one out in the eighth before turning it over to junior righty
Perry Bewley. Bewley got a strikeout and a fly out to end the inning, then allowed a single run in the ninth, but stranded the tying run at second base to end the game.
Bewley is now in second in Division II with 10 saves on the season despite raising his ERA to a miniscule 1.13.
Hayden Jatczak (4-3) was charged with all three runs in seven innings, taking the loss for Saginaw Valley.
Robberts led the offense by going 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a walk. Eifrid was 1-for-3 with a double, a walk and two runs.
The Eagles and Cardinals will resume their series with a doubleheader on Saturday (May 15) beginning at 1 p.m. at Donges Field.
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