The Ashland University baseball team bounced back from a 6-0 defeat in Game 1 to beat visiting Saginaw Valley, 9-5, on Saturday (May 15) afternoon to split a GLIAC doubleheader at Donges Field.
The Eagles (21-17, 16-11 GLIAC) have won two of three games against the Cardinals in the series and can go for the series win on Sunday (May 16) at 1 p.m.
Ashland sits in fourth place in the GLIAC standings, but will not have a chance to climb to first as Northwood and Davenport are both two games ahead in the standings with one game to play.
In Game 2, the Eagles took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the first, getting RBI hits by junior
Alex Whipple, junior
Micah Allen and sophomore
Seth Schroeder.
Saginaw Valley (17-14, 12-11 GLIAC) tied the game with two in the third inning, but the Eagles countered with four runs on just one hit and two errors in the third. Ashland stole six bases in the inning, twice executing a double steal with runners at first and third. Senior
Carson Mittermaier had the only RBI hit in the inning.
Leading 7-3, the Eagles turned to junior right-hander
Josh Stover in relief of freshman
Clayton Cochran.
Stover (4-5) worked the next 5 2/3 innings and allowed just two runs on five hits to earn the win. He struck out four and walked just one. Cochran allowed two earned runs in his three innings while freshman
Adam Schomburg retired the only hitter he faced to close the game.
Senior
Garett Robberts finished Ashland's scoring with a two-run homer – his ninth of the season – in the fourth inning. He is tied for fourth in the GLIAC in homers and leads the conference with 52 RBI.
Eifrid, Whipple, Mittermaier and Schroeder all had two hits and eight of Ashland's nine starters scored a run.
In Game 1, the Cardinals scored three runs in the first inning and Kendall Anthes (1-1) took care of the rest. The right-hander tossed a complete game, giving up just four hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
Colin Cornwell added a three-run homer to put the game away in the sixth for the Cardinals.
Junior
Tyler Zeller had Ashland's only extra-base hit – a one-out double in the seventh.
Senior left-hander
Josh Smith gave up three runs (one earned) in 1 1/3 innings as the starting pitcher. Freshman
Jake Depperschmidt gave up two earned runs in four relief innings and freshman
Isaiah Seidel pitched 1 2/3 hitless innings.
The Eagles will recognize their five seniors before the game on Sunday with first pitch coming at 1 p.m.
AU
BASE/BB
