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“line-height: 120%;”>Last weekend the Ashland University baseball

team played at Donges field for the first time this season,

sweeping Northwood Saturday but dropping both games against the

Timberwolves Sunday.

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“line-height: 120%;”>The doubleheaders opened up GLIAC play for

both teams.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Game one (Saturday)

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“line-height: 120%;”>Ajay Meyer (4-0) opened up the Eagles’ summer

season at home despite the cold temperatures. Ashland’s ace gave up

seven hits, walked three (one intentional) and struck out

eight.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Meyer had five strike outs in the first two

innings and only gave up one unearned run in the fourth off of a

fielding error.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Meyer never trailed in the opening game as the

Eagles manufactured the first run of the game in the bottom of the

third.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Sophomore shortstop Matt Gundlach led off with

a single, bringing up the top of the Ashland order. Ethan Houck

laid down a sacrifice bunt, advancing Gundlach to second followed

by a John Kuzio single putting runners on the corners with one

out.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Ryan Avery collected one of his two RBIs on

the day by hitting a sacrifice fly to center scoring

Gundlach.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Northwood threatened to take the lead in the

top of the fifth with runners on second and third with no outs.

Meyer took matters into his own hands by striking out one and

fielding a comebacker.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Jake Labrecque was intentionally walked but

later forced out at second base. Northwood left three runners on

base in the inning.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Ashland put another run on the board in the

fifth as well as the sixth giving Ashland the 3-1

advantage.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Meyer closed the door in the bottom of the

seventh when Labrecque grounded into a double play, ending the

game.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Kuzio was the designated hitter for AU, going

3-for-3 with a run and a walk.

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“line-height: 120%;”>As a result, Meyer lowered his ERA to an

impressive 1.12 on the season.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Game two (Saturday)

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“line-height: 120%;”>Sophomore Brad Thomas took the mound in the

second game of the doubleheader at Donges field Saturday going the

distance while allowing only three hits, walking zero and striking

out four Timberwolve batters.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Thomas started off the game by dismissing the

first seven Timberwolves before Northwood catcher Ryan Palmer

singled down the left field line in the third inning.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Northwood starter Andrew Thompson was barely

outpitched in the contest. The Timberwolves’ starter only gave up

four hits but allowed two earned runs.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Each team only had one hit going into the

fourth inning but Ashland got to Thompson in the bottom of the

fourth. Senior second baseman Matt McAllester led off with a single

before stealing second and eventually arriving at third thanks to a

throwing error. Evan Melendez tripled down the right field line,

his second on the year, scoring McAllester and setting himself up

to score another run.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Avery came through with a sacrifice fly,

allowing Melendez to score. The RBI was Avery’s third on the

day.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Those two runs would prove to be all that was

needed for Thomas as he allowed only one run in each of the

following three innings giving AU the 2-0 victory and Saturday

sweep of Northwood.

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“line-height: 120%;”>No player had more than one hit in the

pitcher’s duel as both teams combined for just seven

hits.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Game one (Sunday)

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“line-height: 120%;”>In the NCAA Tournament, the Virginia

Commonwealth Rams (VCU) head coach Shaka Smart has shown an

inspirational video to get his team pumped up and prepared for each

game in the tournament. Northwood head coach, Joe Di Benedetto must

have done something close to that.

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“line-height: 120%;”>After scoring only one run in the doubleheader

the day before, the Timberwolves put up nine runs in the Sunday

sweep of AU.

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“line-height: 120%;”>The Eagles (11-6, 2-2 GLIAC) couldn’t stop the

Timberwolves’ offense which scored in each of the first four

innings.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Northwood (7-5, 2-2 GLIAC) played small ball

for the first two innings, jumping out to an early 2-0 lead after

two innings.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Things fell apart for starter Eric Vaughn in

the third when one swing of the bat brought in two more runs

extending the Northwood lead to 4-0 after three.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Three more hits followed for Northwood in the

fourth inning as AU allowed another run to cross home

plate.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Ashland didn’t plate a run until the sixth

inning when Adam Murphy hit an RBI single scoring Austin

Erb.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Ashland continued to threaten by loading the

bases but failed to score.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Vince Frate relieved Vaughn in the beginning

of the fifth inning, finishing off the game in spectacular

fashion.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Frate threw three innings, striking out four

and not allowing a single hit.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Going into the bottom of the seventh, down

5-1, Avery singled up the middle, followed by a double by Ethan

Houck who pitch hit for Erb. Tyler Gray sacrificed scoring Avery

but that was all AU had in the tank.

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“line-height: 120%;”>The loss dropped Vaughn to 1-1 on the season.

Melendez and Avery both went 2-for-4 for the Eagles in the 5-2

loss.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Game 2 (Sunday)

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“line-height: 120%;”>The second game of Sunday’s doubleheader

started off poorly for the Eagles defensively.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Ashland committed two errors in the opening

stanza which gave Northwood the early 1-0 lead.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Ashland starter Joe Malfara settled down and

didn’t allow another run until running into trouble in the fifth

inning.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Ashland got to the Northwood starter in the

bottom of the third thanks to a two-run homerun by

Melendez.

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“line-height: 120%;”>The homer gave AU a 2-1 lead which wouldn’t

stand.

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“line-height: 120%;”>The Timberwolves responded by putting the bat

on the ball, singling four times in the fifth inning.

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“line-height: 120%;”>The four hits resulted in a three-run fifth

inning, reclaiming the lead, 4-2.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Both teams combined for three hits the rest of

the game.

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“line-height: 120%;”>Malfara (0-1) took the loss for AU, giving up

four runs, two earned, on five hits.

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“line-height: 120%;”>The bullpen for the Eagles continued to pitch

well as Andrew Pinkelman relieved Melendez, going 2.2 innings,

allowing one hit and one walk.

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“line-height: 120%;”>The results of the Tiffin doubleheader played

Wednesday were unavailable at press time. Ashland will return home

to take on Grand Valley State Saturday for another four-game

weekend.

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