Baseball Sweeps Oilers In Saturday DH, Takes First Three In Series

A key conference and regional series has gone the way of Ashland University's baseball team so far, as a doubleheader sweep of Findlay on Saturday (April 30) at Tomassi Stadium and Donges Field at the Archer Ballpark Complex gives the Eagles wins in the first three games of the four-game set.
 
The Eagles are 28-15 overall and 19-8 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, are 19-7 in the last 26 outings, and have clinched a spot in the 2022 league tournament (May 11-14 at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio). The Oilers are 17-27, 12-13.
 
One career milestone of note from Saturday was senior shortstop Austin Eifrid breaking the program record for career hits. His 269 career hits move him past Jacob Petkac (268) and into the top spot in the century of Ashland baseball.
 
WHAT HAPPENED

• Game 1 saw the Eagles take a 3-0 lead after two innings thanks to Eifrid's three-run home run. The Oilers responded with two runs in the next half-inning, then two more in the top of the fourth for a 4-3 UF advantage.
• Senior left fielder Seth Schroeder knotted the game at 4 in the bottom of the fourth with a run-scoring single with two outs. The score stayed there until the bottom of the ninth, when senior catcher Mike Flemming's RBI single gave the Eagles the opening-game win.
• Senior closer Perry Bewley (1-1) struck out five and walked one in two innings for the win. Senior designated hitter Micah Allen was 3-for-4, Schroeder was 2-for-5, and senior catcher Brady Cottom was 2-for-3 in AU's 12-hit attack.
• In Game 2, Findlay opened the scoring with a two-spot in the top of the first, but Allen blasted a three-run homer in the bottom of the frame, freshman center fielder Cam Miller added an RBI double, and sophomore third baseman Devin Hukill roped a two-run single, to put AU ahead 6-2 after one.
• Allen's two-run shot in the bottom of the second put the Eagles on top 8-2, and gave him five RBIs in two innings. An RBI single from senior first baseman Tim Zeller in the third, then a Hukill two-run homer in the fourth, made it an 11-2 count.
• Senior right fielder Dillan Smith launched a three-run round-tripper in the fifth for the final margin of victory.
• Of the Eagles' 16 hits, Allen had three and was 3-for-3 with two homers, five RBIs and two runs scored. Hukill was 2-for-3 with a homer and four RBIs, Smith went 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs, Eifrid was 2-for-4, Zeller was 2-for-3 with an RBI, and Miller was 2-for-4 with an RBI.
• Senior righty Jacob Harsany (6-3) went the first six innings for the victory, yielding eight hits, two runs and two walks and whiffing five.

 
UP NEXT
Ashland's Senior Day on Sunday (May 1) at 1 p.m. against the Oilers.