The Ashland University baseball team kicked off Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) action against the Cedarville Yellowjackets. The Eagles played the Yellowjackets a total of four times in the weekend series, with two games a piece on Friday and Saturday.
Coming into the matchup, the Eagles were coming off the Russ Matt invitational in Davenport Florida, where they won all five of their games, scoring a combined 50 runs in the contests.
At the beginning of the series, Ashland looked confident. Junior pitcher Jackson Grine started the day for the Eagles, and through six innings, allowed nine hits and two runs, with only one walk and five strikeouts. The Eagles offensively soared as well, finishing in the game in the eighth inning due to the run rule. The final score of game one was 13-3 Ashland.
Game two was similar for the Eagles, however Cedarville was more involved in the scoring category. The final score of the second matchup was 8-5 Ashland. Pitching in this game for the Eagles was redshirt sophomore Drew Becker. Becker impressed in the game, with seven strikeouts in six innings while allowing five hits, four runs, and three walks.
Day two of the series is where the script flipped. Cedarville came out hot, scoring all six of their game two runs in the first two innings. Meanwhile for the Eagles, they were only able to score once making the final score of 6-1 Cedarville. Pitching to start this matchup was redshirt junior Griffin Ailes, however sophomore Josh Stalnaker took over in the second inning and finished the game. While Stalnaker let up six hits, no runs scored, and he finished the ballgame with six strikeouts.
As the old saying goes, you save the best for last, and that is exactly what these two teams did in this series. Game four began with Ashland striking first this time, with the Eagles scoring two runs in the first inning. However, Cedarville quickly responded by tying the game in the second. From there, the Eagles would score two runs again in the fourth, with the Yellowjackets tying it up once again by the sixth. After three final scoreless innings, it was time for extra play. Cedarville ultimately wasted no time in the tenth and took a 5-4 lead. Ashland could not respond, and the Yellowjackets walked away with a one run victory.
Ashland now sits 11-7 overall on the season, and 2-2 in G-MAC play. The Eagles next series will be next weekend, with one game on Friday and Sunday, along with a doubleheader on Saturday. The times for each game are set for 3 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday, and 1 p.m. Sunday.
