Softball Opens 2025 Home Slate With Sweep Of Storm

It was a successful homecoming on Tuesday (March 18) for Ashland University's softball team, as its first games of 2025 at Deb Miller Field at the Archer Ballpark Complex resulted in 10-2 (five innings) and 9-1 (six innings) wins over Lake Erie.
 
The start of Great Midwest Athletic Conference play saw the Eagles improve to 12-8 overall and 2-0 in the league. Ashland has won four in a row after losing the last three on the Florida Spring Break trip.
 
"I think we're playing with a little bit more confidence," said Ashland head coach Jackie Price. "We're figuring out who we are, and that's good to see. We're having success, and we're building off that success, which is really good for us."
 
The Storm is 0-22, 0-2.
 
In Tuesday's opener, the Eagles put up crooked numbers in the bottom of the first (four runs), second (three) and third (two) innings, then ended the contest early with a run in the fifth.
 
Senior Cassidy Shaffer had a strong first game as a two-way threat. She improved to 3-0 as a pitcher this season after five innings of four-hit ball, allowing two runs and no walks and striking out three, and at the plate, she went 3-for-3 with a double, one run scored and five RBIs.
 
"I can't speak enough about Cass," Price said. "She comes in, she does a job. And that's just who she is, whether it's hitting, pitching, she comes in and takes care of business."
 
Ashland did its scoring later in Game 2, posting three runs in the third, one in the fifth and five in the sixth to force an early end to the contest.
 
The Eagles received another strong effort in the pitcher's circle from junior Delaney Lis (5-2), who went the distance on a three-hitter, allowing one run and one walk and whiffing seven.
 
BIG TWINBILL OFFENSE…AND THE REST OF THE STORY

• Also in Game 1, sophomore left fielder Delaney Maynard, junior second baseman Danielle Robbins, sophomore catcher Delaney Keith and sophomore right fielder Maren Metikosh each had three of AU's 17 hits.
• Game 2 featured Robbins going 3-for-4 with three runs scored, sophomore catcher Sophia Martin ending 2-for-4 with four RBIs, and Shaffer and sophomore pinch-hitter Delaney Keith each driving in two runs.
• In the last five contests, the Eagles have scored 51 runs.
• "Offense has been really stepping up," said Price. "We've been putting the ball in play with runners on, which is really good for us."

UP NEXT
Back home to take on Walsh (4-12, 0-2) in a conference doubledip at 2 p.m. on Friday (March 21).