No. 20 Baseball Loses, Then Walks Off Panthers Again To Stay In G-MAC Tourney

Apparently, one walk-off win for No. 20 Ashland University baseball vs. Kentucky Wesleyan at the 2024 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament wasn't enough.
 
On Thursday (May 9) night at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio, on Day 2 of the conference tournament, the Eagles defeated the Panthers in the bottom of the ninth inning for the second time in as many days, 4-3. That came after a 10-8 loss to Trevecca Nazarene to open the day.
 
Ashland is 40-12, and its head coach, John Schaly, the active NCAA Division II wins leader, has tied Stetson's Pete Dunn (1980-2016) for 26^th on the NCAA all-levels all-time baseball wins list with 1,312.
 
The latest game-winning hit for the Eagles against the Panthers came from sophomore pinch-hitter Ryan Shimek, whose RBI single kept AU alive in the league tourney.
 
"A lot of guys have come through in key spots," Schaly said, "It was really nice for Shimek to do that. He's been patient, waited his turn, and has been working hard. And we believe in him, and all of our guys do.
 
"They don't quit."
 
Said Shimek, "It felt so incredible. All I was thinking about going up there was putting a good swing on it. I was just doing whatever I could for this team. I wanted to come up for them."
 
Ashland is 6-0 this season vs. KWC.
 
It didn't take the Eagles long to dent the scoreboard against the Trojans, as sophomore second baseman Gavin Dobbels hit an opposite-field solo home run in the bottom of the first. The round-tripper was Dobbels' sixth of the season.
 
Trevecca rebounded with a run of its own in the top of the second, but junior right-handed pitcher Cam Scott stranded runners at second and third. The Trojans took the lead in the top of the third with a single run, but AU regained the advantage in the bottom of the frame thanks to a steal of home by Dobbels and an RBI single by junior third baseman Jeremiah Cangelosi.
 
Then, in the bottom of the fourth, Ashland put up another run for a 4-2 lead when junior first baseman Ben Peltz delivered an RBI single. The score stayed that way until the bottom of the sixth, when Cangelosi brought in two more runs with a single to center, and sophomore left fielder Chris Franks followed with an RBI double.
 
The Trojans put up three two-out runs in the top of the seventh to make it a game again at 7-5, but junior left fielder Max Caron got one run back following the seventh-inning stretch with a solo blast – his fourth of 2024.
 
Trevecca wasn't about to go away, however, and once the dust settled after the top of the eighth, the Trojans had scored four times to take a 9-8 lead. Another run in the top of the ninth provided the game's final margin.
 
Against the Wildcats, KWC struck first with two runs in the top of the first. Caron hit his second round-tripper of the day, to right-center field, in the bottom of the second, to get AU on the board in the night contest.
 
The score would stay 2-1 until the bottom of the seventh, when Scott, playing first base, launched an opposite-field homer with two outs to put AU ahead for the first time in the game at 3-2.
 
Unfortunately, the lead was short-lived, as an error in the top of the eighth gave Kentucky Wesleyan the tying run. But, that run did set up Shimek's heroics.
 
POST-GAME NUGGETS

• In Thursday's first game, Peltz was 3-for-5 with an RBI, Cangelosi was 2-for-5 with three RBIs and a run scored, and Dobbels went 2-for-6 with the homer, a stolen bases, two runs scored and an RBI.
• Graduate righty Cal Johnston (4-1) allowed four runs, two hits and two walks in a third of an inning.
• Against KWC, junior righty Cameron Darrington, in just his fourth start as an Eagle, gave Ashland the chance to rally thanks to seven innings of eight-hit, two-run ball. He struck out nine and didn't walk a batter. Another junior righty, Hunter Allen (1-1), went the final two frames, allowed two hits, an unearned run and a walk and whiffed three.
• "Both Darrington and Allen threw well," Schaly said.
• Caron went 2-for-4 with a double, homer, RBI and two runs scored in the victory.
• The Eagles have won at least 40 games for the ninth time in program history.
• Ashland is 8-3 in one-run games in 2024, and has won five straight such contests.

UP NEXT
Another matchup with Trevecca Nazarene on Friday (May 10) at 2 p.m.. If Ashland wins, another Eagles-Trojans game will be played immediately following.