LINK – ASHLAND UNIVERSITY BASEBALL PAGE
Following 8-6 and 16-2 losses at home to Hillsdale on Friday (March 24), Ashland University's baseball team earned a split against the Chargers on Saturday (March 25) at Donges Field.
A 7-5 loss on Saturday was followed by a 14-3 victory in which the Eagles (9-14 overall, 3-5 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) hit four home runs.
"We've just got to keep getting better," said Ashland head coach John Schaly. "We swung the bats a lot better in the second game. We've got to do that. We've been really stressing our defense here of late, and that was the most encouraging thing today (one error in two games)."
Saturday's nightcap saw junior first baseman Greg Ludwig launch a two-run homer in the second, a solo round-tripper in the fifth and another two-run blast in the seventh. Ludwig was 4-for-4 with four runs scored and five RBIs.
Senior center fielder Carsten Dembeck was 2-for-3 with a homer, an RBI and two runs scored, while freshman left fielder Vince Vanata, freshman third baseman Kevin Browne and junior shortstop Edmond Pilolli each had two of AU's 15 hits.
Junior right-hander Luke Smith (2-2) tossed eight quality innings, scattering 11 hits, three runs (two earned) and a walk and striking out six.
The opener on Saturday saw Ashland take a 4-1 lead through three innings before yielding crooked numbers in the top of the fourth (two runs) and fifth (three).
Freshman first baseman Carson Mittermaier was 3-for-3 with a double, home run, two runs scored and four RBIs.
Senior left-hander Mike Gentile took the loss, allowing five hits, five runs and a walk and striking out five in 4 2/3 innings.
UP NEXT: A single non-conference game on Wednesday (March 29) at 3 p.m. at Cedarville.
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