Schaly Earns Career Win No. 1,300, No. 13 Eagles Take All Four From Saints

The No. 13-ranked Ashland University baseball team finished a Great Midwest Athletic Conference sweep of Thomas More on Sunday (April 14), taking 13-5 and 11-6 decisions at Tomassi Stadium and Donges Field at the Archer Ballpark Complex.
 
In improving to 29-5 overall and 15-3 in the Great Midwest, and moving their winning streak to six games, the Eagles gave head coach John Schaly his 1,300^th and 1,301^st all-time collegiate head coaching wins. Schaly passed Bob Bennett for 28^th place on the all-time NCAA baseball wins list, at all levels.
 
"It means I've been around for a while," said Schaly, who earlier this season coached in his 2,000^th collegiate baseball game as a head coach. "Just had a lot of great players, dedicated to the game to get better, great assistant coaches. That to me is for an entire team and an entire staff.
 
"It's something I'm proud of."
 
Ashland is 1½ games ahead of second-place Findlay in the Great Midwest standings, going into the final three weeks of the regular season.
 
"As we all know, we have a long way to go yet," Schaly said. "Now we have to go on the road this week. We have six on the road. We have to keep winning."
 
Thomas More (10-27, 3-19) scored twice in the top of the second inning in Sunday's opener, but Ashland countered with four runs in the bottom of the frame on the same play – a three-run triple by junior center fielder Cam Miller, then Miller came home on an error.
 
The Saints came back quickly, posting three runs in the top of the third to retake the lead at 5-4. In the bottom of the fourth, however, Ashland went ahead 9-5 thanks to run-scoring singles from sophomore second baseman Gavin Dobbels and junior third baseman Jeremiah Cangelosi, then a three-run home run with two outs by sophomore right fielder Chris Franks.
 
Miller's two-run double in the bottom of the fifth pushed AU's lead to 11-5, then Cangelosi made it 12-5 with a bloop RBI single in the fifth. Franks' second homer of the game in the sixth lifted Ashland to a 13-5 advantage.
 
In Sunday's second game, the Saints scored first again, putting up two runs in the top of the second. Ashland dented the scoreboard in the bottom of the third and took the lead 3-2 on consecutive bases-loaded walks drawn by junior first baseman Ben Peltz, Franks and junior left fielder Max Caron.
 
Back-and-forth the two teams went, and once the Saints scored twice in the top of the fourth, they had regained the advantage at 4-3. And then, in the bottom of the fourth, a Dobbels sacrifice fly, Franks getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, a two-run Caron hit and an RBI single from sophomore catcher Collin Overholt put AU back on top at 8-4.
 
Thomas More cut into the new deficit with two runs in the top of the fifth, but for the fifth consecutive half-inning, more runs were scored – AU getting an RBI single from Miller, an RBI double from Dobbels, and Miller scoring on an error for the final margin of victory.
 
POST-GAME NUGGETS

• Ashland has scored double-digit runs in six consecutive games – the most games straight with 10 or more runs in program history.
• "We are putting up runs, we're swinging it," Schaly said.
• In Game 1, Miller went 4-for-4 with a double, triple, five RBIs and three runs scored, and Franks was 2-for-4 with two homers, two runs scored and four RBIs. Miller and Franks each had a hit in Game 2 – moving Franks' hitting streak to 16 games and Miller's to 11 games.
• Junior right-handed pitcher Ethan Stevens (3-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings of relief, striking out two and allowing a hit and two walks.
• In Game 2, Caron drove in three runs, and junior righty Cameron Darrington (2-0) earned the relief win with two perfect innings and a strikeout.
• "Our bullpen both games today did a great job," Schaly said. "All four games, our bullpen looked great."

UP NEXT
Ashland will go to Ohio Dominican (17-15, 8-8) for a Great Midwest doubledip on Tuesday (April 16) at 1 p.m..