Great Midwest Athletic Conference baseball has officially gotten underway for the Ashland University Eagles, as they took on the Findlay Oilers in a four-game matchup over the course of two days. 

The Eagles secured three victories out of the four games between these teams with plenty of experience under their belt against each other. The latest rounds were originally supposed to be played in Findlay, but due to weather and field conditions, they were moved to Ashland on Thursday and Heidelberg on Friday. 

The Eagles Swept the first doubleheader on Thursday, with the Eagles securing 6-3 and 16-14 victories in the first and second games respectively, with the second game going into extra innings.

In the first matchup, the Eagles got out to an early lead, scoring two in the first thanks to 5th year senior Seth Schroder, who knocked a triple to score leadoff man Cam Miller. Schroder also scored that inning off of a fielder’s choice on the very next play. The Eagles started strong from the mound as well, as sophomore Brendan Beaver pitched a dominant seven innings, giving up only three hits, one walk and eleven strikeouts. 

The Oilers slowly chipped away as the innings went on, posting a run in each of the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings to make the game now 3-2 in favor of the Oilers. Then, in the Top of the ninth, with one out and the bases loaded, Jeremiah Cangelosi came up to the plate. The Sophomore transfer from Triton Community College mashed a home run to left field, giving the Eagles the victory over the Oilers. 

The second game of the doubleheader was the complete opposite of the first one, with hitting galore throughout the game. Cangelosi got himself his second home run of the day, with a moonbeam to left-center field on the top of the fourth. He finished the day with seven RBIs across the two games. Designated Hitter Ben Peltz finished this game with three RBIs.

The Eagles then Traveled to Heidelberg to finish the series against the Oilers with another doubleheader. 

The first game was the first Conference defeat that the eagles have suffered this season, losing by a score of 11-10. Zac Common was the hero in the last game, however this time the junior came up short against the Oilers, giving up three runs on five hits and four walks in the final three innings of the game. Cangelosi comes up big again for the Eagles, this time driving in two runs by way of a double and a sacrifice fly.  

In the second game of the doubleheader, the Eagles finished out the series with a victory to make it three wins out of four. The Eagles were led on the mound by the tandem of Sam Witt and Cam Scott, who pitched three and four innings respectively. At the plate, they were led by Ian Sanders, who hit a bases-clearing double to secure the victory over the Oilers. 

The Eagles now look to Tuesday, where they have one game against the out-of-conference Mercyhurst Lakers, then later this week when they travel to Cedarville to take on the Yellow Jackets in another GMAC conference series.