Baseball Keeps Florida Win Streak Going Against Winona State

Winning a fifth consecutive game overall, Ashland University's baseball team improved to 4-0 in Florida following a 12-3 win over Winona State on Sunday (March 8) afternoon.
 
Now 8-5 in 2026, the Eagles have scored double-digit runs in three of their last four games.
 
The Warriors (5-5) scored a single run in each of the first three innings, but it took just one swing for the Eagles to get the lead for the first time in the bottom of the third. Graduate right fielder Chris Franks launched a grand slam – his team-leading third home run of 2026 – to put AU on top 4-3.
 
Then, also in the third, junior catcher Nate King hit his first homer as an Eagle, a two-run shot, to make it a 6-3 game. King then came home in the fifth on an attempted double steal to make it a 7-3 score.
 
Freshman second baseman Max Albert added a two-run single in the bottom of the seventh for some insurance, then more came thanks to a two-run homer from senior third baseman Ryan Shimek, his third, and a King sacrifice fly, in the eighth.
 
Junior right-hander pitcher Jackson Grine (1-0) earned his first win as an Eagle in relief, going 5 2/3 innings scoreless, striking out four, and allowing three hits and no walks.
 
MORE FLAWLESS DEFENSE

• Ashland played errorless in the field for the sixth time in the last seven games.
• Shimek went 2-for-4, lowering his season batting average to .515.
• Sophomore center fielder Sean Krueckeberg ended 3-for-5 with a triple, King was 2-for-4 and graduate shortstop Collin Overholt was 2-for-3.
• Franks (four), King (three), Shimek (two) and Albert (two) each drove in multiple runs in the victory.

COMING UP
The last game in Florida on Tuesday (March 10) at 9:45 a.m. vs. Minnesota Duluth.