The Ashland University baseball team will enter the G-MAC Baseball Tournament as the top seed in an eight-team field. The eight-team tournament runs from Wednesday, May 6 through Saturday, May 9. All games will be played at Prasco Park in Mason, OH.
Ashland will open tournament play on Wednesday at 6 p.m., against eight-seeded Ohio Dominican. The Eagles went 2-0 against the Panthers this season.
The Eagles have won 13 consecutive games against G-MAC foes. The last three games in that stretch came last weekend in Ashland against Hillsdale. The final two games in that series were one-run affairs. Ashland is 35-14, 23-8 in conference play.
The winner of the G-MAC Tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II playoffs.
In addition to Ashland and Ohio Dominican, the other teams in the tournament are Walsh (second seed), Findlay (third seed), Kentucky Wesleyan (fourth seed), Cedarville (fifth seed), Northwood (sixth seed) and Hillsdale (seventh seed).
The Eagles feature a balanced offensive attack that includes four players with 32 or more RBI. Infielder-outfielder Ryan Shimek is swinging at a .379 clip with five homers and 38 RBI. Infielder Collin Overholt is hitting .336 with eight homers and 35 RBI. Infielder Drew Stevens checks in at .333 with five round-trippers and 34 RBI. Outfielder Chris Franks has seven homers, a team-high 39 RBI and is hitting .325.
Redshirt sophomore Drew Becker is one of the top pitchers in the region. He's 6-1 in 11 starts with 87 strikeouts and 17 walks in 63.2 innings. He has a 2.97 ERA. Junior righty Jackson Grine is 4-0 with a 3.63 ERA.
