Somehow, someway, the Ashland University baseball team was able to come out on top.
And they yet again stunned the Tiffin University Dragons.
On Saturday, April 18, the Eagles took down the Dragons, stunning them 7-6 with a walk-off RBI single by Billy Howard. Just a day prior, on Friday, the Eagles beat them, 3-2, winning in the bottom of the eighth inning, before dominating them in game two, 6-1.
Alongside celebrating a win, the program and the Ashland University athletic department recognized three distinct moments prior to the game beginning. The first was head coach John Schaly's 1,000th career win at Ashland, which came back on March 20. The second was honoring the 1976 team that set a school record for wins, was selected to the regional tournament and recorded a few upsets along the way.
Lastly, the 2006 College World Series squad was honored. That group of student-athletes produced one of the most incredible seasons in program history. They went 47-17 that campaign to earn the program's third trip to the College World Series. They went on to beat Franklin Pierce in the first round, 14-4, fell to Chico State in the second round, 8-4, and were then knocked out by Franklin Pierce, 7-2, in their elimination game.
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Game 3 Against Tiffin
To begin the outing on Saturday, things were rocky for Ashland.Â
Neither team was able to score through the opening couple of innings, but Tiffin broke open the scoreboard with a run being tacked on in the top of the third inning. From there, Ashland brought the game level in the bottom of the fourth, but that wasn't long-lasting.
Tiffin ballooned their lead to three by the top of the sixth inning, taking a 4-1 advantage.
However, just a half-inning later, Chris Franks doubled, the Dragons committed a few errors and then Gage Weaver homered, bringing the game level at four.
With the game level in the top of the ninth inning, all Ashland had to do was make it to the bottom half and try to pull off a win. Tiffin, though, wasn't done scoring as they scored two runs through a combination of hits and fielding errors.
But when all hope seemed lost, the Eagles had one final response.
Collin Overholt and Ryan Shimek opened the inning with back-to-back walks to spark the rally. After a strikeout and a groundout pushed both runners into scoring position, Nate King drew another walk to load the bases.
Sean Krueckeberg delivered in one of the biggest moments, ripping a two-run single up the middle to tie the game at 6-6. Moments later, when the Eagles were itching to put the game to rest, Howard stepped to the plate and lined a single into right field, scoring King from second to seal the 7-6 walk-off win.
On the mound, Ben Zink earned the win after working the final inning, moving his season record to 2-2 on the campaign.
While the late-game hitting stole the show, one of the underlying positives for the Eagles was the ability to draw walks. In total, the team recorded 10.
With the win, the Eagles jumped to 27-13 on the season and 15-8 in conference play, and now have three games over the Dragons in this series.
The Eagles and Dragons will be right back in action on Sunday, April 19, with a series-finale matchup.Â
