Baseball Adds To Recent Roll With Home Win Over Gannon

Crooked numbers in the bottom of the second, fourth, sixth and eighth innings propelled Ashland University's baseball team to its 10^th win in the last 12 games, 12-5, on Tuesday (April 12) against Gannon at Tomassi Stadium and Donges Field at the Archer Ballpark Complex.
 
The Eagles are 19-10, and the Golden Knights are 16-10.
 
"Offensively, we played well. We swung the bats well," said Ashland head coach John Schaly. "We have to clean up our defense (four errors on Tuesday). Just putting too many guys on base, too many freebies.
 
"We've been scoring runs and getting pretty decent pitching. Until today, we had been playing pretty well defensively. At the beginning of the year, we weren't very consistent. Trying to get all the phases together."
 
"We're actually coming together really well," said freshman second baseman Ian Sanders. "Everyone has so much chemistry. I love playing for the program."
 
WHAT HAPPENED

• After the Golden Knights scored a run in the top of the first inning and two in the second, the Eagles responded with a three-spot in the bottom of the second. Senior first baseman Micah Allen launched a solo home run, and freshman left fielder Cam Miller and senior Austin Eifrid each added RBI singles.
• Gannon scored an unearned run in the fourth to re-take the lead, but Ashland had the answer again in the form of a run scoring on an error, then an RBI ground-rule double from senior designated hitter Tim Zeller.
• The Golden Knights re-tied the game in the sixth at 5-5, but, again, the Eagles came back with the response. Zeller's two-run triple gave AU the lead, then Allen's sacrifice fly made it 8-5.
• Ashland finished the scoring with four in the bottom of the eighth, highlighted by a three-run blast by Sanders.
• Sanders was 4-for-4 with the homer and three RBIs.
• "Coming out here and knowing my role, hit the ball hard, put it in play," Sanders said of his first couple months as a middle-of-the-order hitter for AU. "Anything that will help my team win games."
• Said Schaly, "He had a great day. He's got power and uses the whole field."
• Zeller (3-for-5, double, triple, three RBIs) and senior center fielder Sebastian Fabik (3-for-5) also had big games at the plate, helping eight Eagle hurlers. Senior right-hander Joel Ciccarelli (3-0) got the win in relief after 1 2/3 scoreless innings.

 
UP NEXT
Ashland (11-5 Great Midwest Athletic Conference) will play host to a four-game series with Walsh (14-11, 6-6), starting with a nine-inning game on Thursday (April 14) at 3 p.m.
 
"We're going to have to play well to beat them," Schaly said. "We've got to get ready for a battle."