The Ashland University baseball team shut out its second straight opponent, blanking USciences, 5-0, on Wednesday (March 6) afternoon in Kissimmee, Fla.
The Eagles (7-1) have now won four straight games and have not allowed a run in their last 18 innings on the mound.
Senior right-hander Sam Rice got the ball against the Devils (1-8) and twirled a gem, striking out five and giving up just five hits across eight innings of work. He walked just one.
He used a pickoff to erase a runner in the first inning and induced double plays in the second and fourth innings to limit threats.
Offensively, the Eagles scored twice in each of the first two innings, producing enough runs for a pitching staff that lowered its ERA to 2.31 through eight games. As a unit the Eagles have 79 strikeouts in 70 innings.
In the first, the Eagles took advantage of two hit-by-pitches and three walks to score two runs without getting a hit. Freshman Michael Haley had an RBI groundout and junior Garett Robberts drew a bases-loaded walk to score the runs.
In the second, juniors Carson Mittermaier and Jason Swope delivered RBI hits, and in the eighth, sophomore Dillan Smith lifted a pinch-hit sac fly to make it 5-0.
Junior left-hander Josh Smith came on for Rice in the ninth and set the Devils down in order to preserve the shutout.
The Eagles recorded 11 hits in the game with three coming from freshman Seth Schroeder and two each from Robberts and sophomore Austin Eifrid.
Hiro Mizutani (0-2) took the loss for the Devils, giving up four runs on nine hits in seven innings.
The Eagles will return to play on Thursday (March 7) at 1:45 p.m. against defending NCAA Division II national champion Augustana. The game will be live streamed at THIS LINK. Fans can use the promo code russ-matt for a discounted viewing rate.
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