On Friday Jan. 31 to Sunday Feb. 2, the No. 29 Ashland University baseball team opened their season in the state of Texas. The Eagles kicked off its 2025 season at the Houston Winter Invitational, home to the Houston Astros, the 2017 and 2022 World Series champions.
The Eagles had a tough schedule ahead of them from this invite. They played against the No. 3 Central Missouri Mules, the No. 23 Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys and the No. 19 Arkansas-Monticello Weevils.
The team began the invite by against the No. 3 Central Missouri University. The Eagles would out to an early 2-0 lead in the second inning. With securing two runners batted in (RBI) singles from senior third baseman Jeremiah Cangelosi and graduate designated hitter Max Caron.
However, the Mules would go on a tear and score six runs in the bottom of the third. Which would help the Mules win the game in eight innings, 15-5.
The Eagles would look to bounce back in their second game against No.23 ranked Missouri Tech. The game would go back and forth with 3 lead changes in the game. But a homer by senior first baseman Cam Scott would help the Eagles go into extra innings with the Wonder Boys.
In the end, it would be senior catcher, Ben Peltz, playing the hero for the Eagles. As he would hit a walk-off RBI to secure an 8-7 win for Ashland.
In their final game, the Eagles would battle it out against the No. 19 Arkansas-Monticello. The game between the Eagles and Weevils would be an intense one at that.
The Eagles would get out to an early 1-0 top of the first due to an RBI by junior first baseman Sam Witt. But the Weevils would come right back in the bottom of the third making the score 3-1.
Throughout the game, the teams would exchange blows with each other. But when it reached the top of the seventh inning, with the score being 5-3 in favor of the Weevils, the Eagles took charge.
It started off with redshirt junior Collin Overholt with a homer to left field to make the score 5-4. But the Eagles were not done yet. Cangelosi would hit a 2 run RBI, which end up being the game winning hit. The Eagles would win 6-5 over the Weevils.
Overall, the Eagles would leave the state of Texas with a record of two wins and a single loss. The Eagles have some time before their next couple of games. It will be a doubleheader home opener against Concord University on Saturday Feb. 22 at noon.
