One of the top seasons in Ashland University baseball history in terms of wins came to an end on Saturday (May 18), as the Eagles topped Northwood, 16-4, but lost to host Saginaw Valley State, 11-7, to finish the 2024 NCAA Division II split Midwest Regional.
Ashland's campaign ends at 42-15, and that win total is tied for the fourth-most in AU baseball annals.
Back-to-back errors in the top of the third inning allowed the Timberwolves to score two unearned runs and take the early lead. It didn't take long for the Eagles to counter, however, as, in the bottom of the third, junior third baseman
Jeremiah Cangelosi launched a two-out two-run home run to tie the game – his third of 2024 and his first since April 3.
Northwood kept the back-and-forth on the scoreboard going, posting two more runs in the top of the fourth. The T'wolves loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the fifth, but senior right-hander
Justin Dyksma got out of the jam with no one scoring.
That led AU to take the lead in the bottom of the fifth, when sophomore right fielder
Chris Franks delivered a run-scoring single, sophomore catcher
Collin Overholt launched his fourth homer of the spring, a three-run shot (and his first since April 27), and senior designated hitter
Ian Sanders added a seeing-eye two-run single.
Leading 8-4 through five, the Eagles were looking to close it out and get to Saturday's second game. They added to their lead with three runs in the bottom of the sixth when Overholt snuck an RBI base hit down the left-field line, junior left fielder
Max Caron drew a bases-loaded walk and Sanders lifted a sacrifice fly.
Junior center fielder
Cam Miller added a two-run double, then Cangelosi a two-run single, then sophomore second baseman
Gavin Dobbels scored on a wild pitch, in the top of the ninth for more insurance.
In the second game vs. the Cardinals, Ashland scored twice with two outs in the top of the first when Overholt drove in two runs with a double. Saginaw Valley rallied in the bottom of the third with a four-spot to take the lead for the first time.
Another four runs for the Cardinals in the bottom of the fifth made it an 8-2 contest. Then, in the bottom of the sixth, SVSU added another run for a 9-2 lead.
Caron's solo shot in the top of the seventh, his sixth of the season, sliced into Saginaw's lead at 9-3, but the Cardinals got the run back in the bottom of the seventh. A run-scoring single from Overholt in the top of the eighth made it 10-4, then Sanders hit a bases-clearing double to center field to cut the deficit to 10-7.
The Cardinals, however, stopped AU's momentum with a run in the bottom of the eighth.
POST-GAME NUGGETS
- Against Northwood, Dobbels and Cangelosi each rapped three of AU's 16 hits, while Cangelosi and Overholt each drove in four runs.
- Dyksma (4-2) threw five innings of scoreless relief to earn the victory, allowing two hits and two walks and striking out three.
- Eagle head coach John Schaly tied Joe Roberts (1980-2013, Armstrong State) for 25th place on the NCAA all-time all-levels baseball wins list.
- Overholt and Sanders each drove in three runs against the Cardinals, while Dobbels, Overholt and Sanders each had two hits.
- Junior lefty Marshall Leishman (9-2) went the first 2 1/3 frames, striking out two and allowing four hits, four runs (three earned) and two walks.
- Ashland's third straight NCAA postseason appearance is the program's best since going four times in a row from 2007-10.
- The Eagles' 110 wins over last three seasons is the best three-year stretch for the program since 2008-10 (117).
