Two Wins To End Series Give No. RV Eagles Three Out Of Four Over Storm

The No. RV Ashland University baseball team took three of four Great Midwest Athletic Conference games from Lake Erie following 10-3 and 9-6 road wins on Friday (April 18).
 
Following a 6-6 start to 2025, the Eagles are 24-5 in their last 29 games, and improve to 30-11 overall and 19-5 in the Great Midwest. AU is two games behind first-place Northwood in the North Division.
 
Ashland head coach John Schaly now sits alone in 21^st place on the NCAA baseball all-levels wins list with 1,344 career victories.
 
The opener saw Ashland open the scoring with a run in the top of the first inning. Redshirt freshman center fielder Sean Krueckeberg's RBI double put the Eagles on top early.
 
After a brief weather delay, AU came back with a pair of runs in the second thanks to a sacrifice fly from junior left fielder Billy Howard and a two-out Storm (19-20, 11-13) error to make the game 3-0.
 
Krueckeberg struck again in the fourth, collecting an RBI single to put the Eagles up by four. Later in the fourth, graduate designated hitter Max Caron was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, then another two-out Lake Erie error plated two more runs, to extend the AU advantage to 7-0.
 
The Storm scored in the fifth, but Ashland got the run back – and then some – in the seventh on RBI doubles from junior right fielder Mason Koons and junior second baseman Gavin Dobbels, and a run-scoring hit by Howard.
 
Lake Erie finished with two runs in the bottom of the seventh.
 
In Game 2, junior first baseman Sam Witt opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first. The Storm came back with a run in the third to tie the game at 1, then Caron (two-run double) and Witt (sac fly) brought AU back into the lead in the fourth.
 
Junior shortstop Collin Overholt's solo home run in the fifth made it a 5-1 AU lead. Lake Erie posted a run in the sixth, but Overholt's second solo shot, to take over the team lead this spring with seven, got the run back in the seventh.
 
Later in the seventh, Howard, Krueckeberg and Caron all drew bases-loaded walks to make it a 9-2 contest. The Storm returned serve with three runs in the bottom of the seventh, but AU still led 9-5 through seven.
 
Lake Erie scored a run in the ninth, but the Eagles finished off the doubleheader sweep.
 
KRUECKEBERG'S BIG DAY…AND THE REST OF THE STORY

• Krueckeberg was 3-for-5 with a single, double, triple, two RBIs and a run scored in Game 1, then came back in Game 2 to finish 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored.
• Senior right-hander Hunter Allen (7-0) remained undefeated following eight strikeouts, two hits, a run and three walks in five innings.
• In Game 2, Overholt became the second Eagle with a multi-homer game this season - and his homers came in consecutive at-bats, and from each side of the plate.
• Caron was 3-for-5 with a double and three RBIs.
• Graduate lefty Marshall Leishman (5-3) went the first six innings, striking out eight and yielding six hits, two runs and a walk.

UP NEXT
A non-conference game vs. Slippery Rock on Tuesday (April 22) at 3 p.m. at Tomassi Stadium and Donges Field at the Archer Ballpark Complex.