Baseball Moves Up To No. 9 In ABCA Coaches Poll

Ashland University's baseball team has achieved its highest placement in the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) NCAA Division II Coaches Poll in four years, as the Eagles have moved up to No. 9 in the latest edition released on Tuesday (April 2) morning.
 
The Eagles are 22-3 overall and 7-1 and in first place in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. They will play a league doubleheader at Ohio Dominican on Wednesday (April 3) at 1 p.m., looking to tie their best 25-game start since going 22-3 to begin the 2019 season.
 
Tuesday's poll marks Ashland's highest ranking in the ABCA poll since also being slotted No. 9 on March 2, 2020. The last time the Eagles were ranked higher than No. 9 was in the 2020 preseason (No. 8).
 
The Eagles are the only Great Midwest team in this week's poll, as well as the highest-ranked Midwest Region team.
 
Through the end of March, Ashland leads NCAA Division II in strikeouts per nine innings as a team (12.2), is eighth in team strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.91-to-1), and has the fifth-best winning percentage in the country. Individually, sophomore left-handed pitcher John Essig has the sixth-best strikeouts per innings in D-II at 13.7 (35 strikeouts in 23 innings).
 
2024 ASHLAND UNIVERSITY ABCA DIVISION II COACHES POLLS: No. 14 (March 19), No. 11 (March 26), No. 9 (April 2).