Eagles Finish Banner Day With Doubledip Sweep At Walsh

Eagles Finish Banner Day With Doubledip Sweep At Walsh

It was quite the day for Ashland University's softball team on Wednesday (April 15).

First, the Eagles returned to the Top 25 in Division II, ranking 25th in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll. Then, AU found out it was fourth in the first Midwest Regional poll of the spring.

Finally, Ashland earned 1-0 and 2-1 wins at Walsh in a key Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader. The Eagles have won six games in a row, are 27-5 overall and 12-4 in the GLIAC, are 20-2 away from Ashland and, in one afternoon, moved from fifth to second in the conference standings.

The Cavaliers are 16-9, 11-6.

In Game 1, senior center fielder Taylor Menhart delivered the only run of the contest with an RBI double in the top of the third inning. Junior pitchers Sarah Alley and Brittany Flanigan made that run stand up – Alley improving to 7-0 with six shutout innings and eight strikeouts and Flanigan earning her third save with a scoreless seventh.

Alley ran her consecutive scoreless innings streak to 31.

The nightcap saw the Eagles score two runs in the bottom of the second inning and hold on for the sweep. Alley was 2-for-3 with a double, senior pitcher Amber McDermott moved to 8-2 with five innings of one-run ball and Flanigan got her second save of the day and fourth of the season with two more scoreless frames.

The Eagles are scheduled to play host to GLIAC rival Hillsdale on Thursday (April 16) at 2:45 p.m. – the third time Ashland and the Chargers have been slated to play a twinbill this season.

 
 

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