The Eagles extended their winning streak to ten after back-to-back victories against Saginaw Valley State University on Saturday.  This team has not a streak of this number since the season in April 2009.

They continued their winning streak beating the Cardinals 3-2 and 8-7 in the nightcap, which ran for 12 innings.

AU is currently ranked 21 in Division II with a 23-9 overall record and a 12-4 record in the conference.

In their first game of the day, Ashland was able to score all three of their runs within the first three innings.  

The cause of these runs, senior left fielder, Kyle Brooks.  Along with driving in all three of AU’s runs, he also went two-for-three.  

Off of Brook’s hits, junior designated hitter Mackenzie Hampshire scored two of them and went three-for-four in the lineup.

Pitching for the Eagles was junior Jake Baldwin, another returner this season along with Art Warren after going through Tommy-John surgery.  

Baldwin pitched six strong innings.  He struck out seven Cardinals, only one walk and two runs out of the six hits he allowed that afternoon.

Alex Smith, a junior pitcher, earned his fifth save for this season, relieving Baldwin and pitching a scoreless seventh inning.

“Saturday’s star was probably Alex Smith,” said senior Stephen James.  “He had not pitched in about three weeks, but came in and closed the door.  It’s always good to have a shut out in the last innings … That helped us carry over to game two on Saturday.”

The second game of the day was a nail-bitter for the Eagles as it was taken into 12 innings.

The Eagles were in control the entire day until the Cardinals scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth after being down 6-2.

The Eagles stayed in the game as they scored two runs at the top of the 12^th, allowing them to sweep Saginaw for the day.

Smith returned to the mound in the nightcap.  He struck out three, only walked one, and allowed five hits and one run.

Two-time defending player of the week in the GLIAC South Division, second baseman James, won the game for the Eagles, hitting a two-run homer in the 12^th.  

“Stephen is very hot right now offensively,” said head coach John Schaly. “He’s gotten a number of key hits for us in big situations but he is also playing great defense too. It’s nice to see as a senior. He’s working hard and playing well all the way around.

James continues his strong season going two for five at bat, hitting one double, driving in four runs, and scoring two runs.

James’ individual success has transferred to his teammates through the season he see it as his job to be the “jump starter” on offense.

“I take it hard on myself when our offense isn’t doing well,” said James. “I like the role of being the “party starter” and try and get things going for us.

Junior first baseman, Mike Lewandowski also had a strong day at the plate.  He went three for five and claimed three of AU’s 14 hits.

Also adding to the Eagle’s score was junior first baseman Blake Bellman who gave the team two more runs.

“I was really proud of our team on Saturday,” said James. “We battled through a 12-inning game of Saturday that went back and forth and was very closely contested.”

This 12-inning game was the longest game since April 2012 when the Eagles suffered a 4-2 13-inning loss to Rockhurst.

Despite their sweep on Saturday, the Eagle’s double-header on Sunday did not prove to be as promising.  

Saginaw claimed the victories on day two, defeating the Eagles 4-0 and 13-7. 

They were unable to score any runs, although their opportunities were slim only having three hits the entire game.

“Nothing really quite fell apart,” said James. “But we had a lot of unlucky things happen. We struggled to get runners on base against their pitcher … It was just kind of frustrating that we kept knocking on the door, but we just couldn’t break through to get that first run.”

In six innings, sophomore pitcher Brandon Sittinger struck out eight, although he allowed seven hits, four of which allowed the Cardinals to score.

Game two started off stronger, the Eagles claiming a 2-1 lead at the bottom of the fourth.

Their success did not last for long after the Cardinals scored seven runs during the fifth inning.  

James continued to give some hope for his team, only going 50 percent at he plate, but added a double, a homerun and three RBI’s to his stat sheet.

Lewandowski also gave his team three hits matching his teammate, sophomore designated hitter, Steve Mowry.  Together they had six of the team’s 13 hits.

“You play as many games as we do, you’re probably going to have a day somewhere when things just don’t go well,” said Schaly.”

In hopes to start over with their winning streak, the Eagles go into the weekend with two double-headers.

AU will host Walsh on Saturday and Sunday this weekend.