MASON, Ohio – On Day 3 of the 2025 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament, the No. RV Ashland University baseball team lost to Ohio Dominican, 10-5 – knocking the Eagles out of the tourney.
Ashland is 37-17 through the conference postseason, while the Panthers will play for the league tourney title on Saturday (May 10) at 24-28.
The Panthers struck first with a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning, then added an RBI triple in the second for an early 2-0 lead.
Ashland got on the board with an unearned run in the third when junior right fielder
Billy Howard made it a 2-1 game on an RBI infield single. ODU got the run back quickly, scoring in the bottom of the third on a run-scoring single to go ahead 3-1.
Redshirt freshman center fielder
Sean Krueckeberg scored on a two-out wild pitch in the fifth to pull AU back to within a run at 3-2.
The Panthers, however, pulled away in the bottom of the fifth, thanks to a two-run single, a one-run single and another two-run safety – and they went up 8-2 through five.
Junior second baseman
Gavin Dobbels' sacrifice fly and Howard's RBI single in the sixth put the score at 8-4, but ODU came back with the immediate response in the bottom for the third time in the contest with an RBI single and an RBI ground-rule double for a 10-4 score.
Ashland loaded the bases with one out in the seventh, and the Eagles cashed in on a sac fly from senior third baseman
Jeremiah Cangelosi, but they trailed 10-5 after 6½ - which is where the game finished.
…AND THE REST OF THE STORY
- Junior first baseman Sam Witt earned his fifth multi-hit game over the last six outings, ending 3-for-5 with a run scored.
- Howard was 2-for-4 with two RBIs, and has a five-game hitting streak and four-game RBI streak.
- Sophomore right-handed pitcher Griffin Ailes (3-1) went the first four innings, allowing seven hits, five runs and no walks and striking out four.
- Ashland is in the midst of a 37-win season so far – the eighth-most victories in a year in program history.
UP NEXT
The NCAA Division II baseball tournament selection show on NCAA.com at 10:30 p.m. on Sunday (May 11).