Eagles Vault To No. 17 in NCBWA Poll

Eagles Vault To No. 17 in NCBWA Poll

The Ashland University baseball team vaulted to No. 17 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll released late Tuesday (March 26) afternoon. 

The Eagles (19-3) have matched the 2006 team for the best start in school history and have won 10 straight games – their longest streak since the 2015 season when they also won 10 in a row.

Ashland, which was receiving votes in the poll last week and was ranked No. 25 in the March 12 edition, is coming off a 13-5 win over Wheeling Jesuit on Tuesday. The Eagles also swept all four games of their GLIAC-opening series against Parkside last weekend.

The Eagles lead the GLIAC in hitting (.316) and on-base percentage (.415) while posting the second-best ERA (3.46) in the league, just slightly behind Wayne State. Ashland is the only 4-0 team in GLIAC play.

AU pitchers are also striking out batters at a high rate – 10.66 per nine innings. Of the 11 pitchers who have appeared, eight have struck out more than a batter per inning.

Senior Devin Peters and junior Chance Hitchcock lead the staff with ERAs sitting at 2.70, while senior reliever Chris Slavik has appeared in nine games and has a 5-0 record with a 3.38 ERA. Overall, opponents are hitting just .248 off Ashland's pitching staff.

Offensively, sophomore shortstop Austin Eifrid leads the team in hitting (.410) and RBI (21). He is also reaching base at a .535 clip and has stolen 10 bases.

Nine players have at least 10 RBI. Junior Michael Rogers hit .588 last week and leads the team with four homers on the season.

The Eagles are scheduled to face off with Davenport for a four-game series starting Friday (March 29) at 3 p.m. at Donges Field, weather permitting. The Panthers won all five games against the Eagles last season.

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