Survive and advance?
Ashland University's baseball team did more than just survive during the first day of the 2015 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament on Thursday (May 7), topping Wayne State, 7-1, at the Athletes in Action Sports Complex in Xenia, Ohio.
The Eagles, the tournament's top seed, are 34-15 following their fourth win in five games over the Warriors in less than a week. AU will play Northwood on Friday (May 8) at 2 p.m. in Xenia.
The Warriors are 22-24-1.
Down 1-0 after 2½ innings, the Eagles took the lead in the bottom of the third thanks to a familiar sight – a two-run home run from senior second baseman Stephen James, his 12th of the season.
Ashland put up a crooked number again in the bottom of the fifth, scoring five times to take a 7-1 lead. The Eagles received a sacrifice fly from junior third baseman Mike Lewandowski, a two-run single from junior designated hitter Blake Bellman, an RBI squeeze bunt from senior left fielder Kyle Brooks and a bases-loaded walk by freshman catcher Ryan Lowe.
Junior pitcher Jake Baldwin improved to 9-1 after allowing seven hits, a run and a walk while striking out six in seven-plus innings. Sophomore pitcher Mitch Cox finished the game with two hitless frames.
Bellman was 2-for-3 with two RBIs to pace the AU offense. James drove in two runs and scored a pair.
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