Ashland University's baseball team won two more games against Malone at Tomassi Stadium and Donges Field at the Archer Ballpark Complex, 9-5 and 8-4, on Saturday (April 8), finishing off a four-game sweep in the series.
The Eagles, winners of 10 of their last 12 games, improve to 22-9 overall and 13-3 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. In the North Division, Northwood is 15-1, followed by Walsh at 10-2, and the Eagles at 13-3.
Malone (15-17, 4-12) scored its first runs of the series in the top of the second inning in Game 1, posting four. The Pioneers then added another run in the third for a 5-0 lead.
Ashland countered with a four-spot in the third, three runs of which were unearned thanks to a pair of Pioneer errors. Then, in the fifth, the Eagles tied the game on an RBI double from redshirt freshman right fielder
Chris Franks, then they took a 7-5 lead when junior second baseman
Devin Hukill delivered a two-run single.
In the sixth, back-to-back RBI infield singles from Hukill and redshirt freshman third baseman
Collin Overholt extended the Ashland lead to 9-5.
Game 2 saw Ashland go on top first with an RBI single from sophomore designated hitter
Ben Peltz in the first innings. Malone scored twice in the second, then the Eagles knotted the game at 2 in the second on a Hukill RBI groundout.
In the fourth, Franks delivered a sacrifice fly to put AU ahead 3-2. Then, in the fifth, Peltz added an RBI ground-rule double for a 4-2 lead, then Franks hit a three-run home run down the right-field line to lift the Eagles to a 7-2 advantage.
Fifth-year third baseman
Seth Schroeder's RBI single in the sixth made it an 8-2 game, and the Pioneers added a run in the eighth and the ninth, but could get no closer.
NOTABLES
- Franks was 3-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored in Game 1, and Hukill was 2-for-3 with three RBIs.
- Sophomore left-hander Marshall Leishman (4-1) went the first five innings, giving up nine hits, five runs (four earned) and two walks and striking out six. Yet another sophomore, right-hander Matt Hall, earned his second save of the season with two hitless innings and three strikeouts.
- Franks drove in four more runs in the nightcap, while Schroeder was 3-for-5 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI.
- Sophomore righty Cam Scott (4-2) threw a five-hitter over seven innings, yielding three runs and four walks and whiffing seven. Junior right-hander Zac Common, who didn't have a save this season before the weekend, earned his third save of the series after striking out the last batter of the game.
QUOTABLES
- "A great weekend," said Ashland head coach John Schaly. "Really played well in all phases. Pitched it well, played great defense, got the clutch hits. To win four against anyone in a weekend is tough."
- "We knew we were going to be young coming in, just needed to get experience," Schaly said. "They're getting better. Every day, they're getting better."
- Franks said, "It feels really good. It's an amazing feeling. I think we're all just hitting the ball well, pitchers are throwing well. I'm really excited. I think we can go a long way, do some cool things."
UP NEXT
Ashland will travel to Wayne State (24-4) for a single game on Tuesday (April 11) at 3 p.m.
