Hartzell Ties Win Record, AU Wins Two Against Cards
May 3, 2003

Throughout this past week, AU senior pitcher Ryan Hartzell limped around campus with a bad back.

Come Saturday (May 3), however, it was standard operating procedure as Hartzell carried the Eagles on his back as the AU baseball team swept a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader from Saginaw Valley State at AU’s Donges Field. Behind Hartzell, AU won Saturday’s opener, 2-1. In the nightcap, AU pounded the Cardinals, 12-3.

Ashland has won nine consecutive games and is 34-15-1, 21-6-1 in the league. SVSU is 27-15 and 17-10.

Hartzell is 6-5. The win over Saginaw Valley was the 37th of his career and that ties him with Mark Smithberger for the Ashland lead in career wins.

Hartzell was matched up with SVSU’s Scott Corby in a battle of GLIAC aces. Corby entered the game with an 8-0 mark and a 1.58 ERA. He allowed two runs on nine hits in pitching his sixth complete game of the season. Corby walked two and struck out six. Both of those walks turned into runs.

SVSU scored the game’s first run in the top of the fifth, Kyle Weessies coming home from third on a wild pitch. Weessies had started the rally with a one-out single. The Cardinals had two of their four hits in that frame. After that run scored, Hartzell was able to regroup and get the inning’s final two outs via strikeouts. The Cardinals had the bases loaded with only out and when they scored only once, they seemed stunned.

AU tied the game, 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth, junior center fielder Brandon Cornell driving in second baseman Mark Kahlenberg with a two-out single. Kahlenberg led off the inning and moved to second on shortstop Tim Hinchliffe’s sacrifice bunt.

The winning run came home with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. After Hinchliffe bounced out to second and Bryce Bednarczyk struck out Cornell walked and moved to second on a stolen base. Senior designated hitter Brock Wiskochil drove in his 42nd run of the year with a single. That ended the contest and gave Corby his first loss of the season.

Hartzell, in addition to allowing four hits, had seven strikeouts and four walks.

In the second game, senior righthander Nate Wright improved to 9-2. Wright leads the conference in victories. The Cardinals roughed him up for two runs in the first as Mike Crawford and Eric Caldwell swatted RBI doubles to left. In the top of the third, SVSU got three hits, including another double from Crawford, but failed to score. Sean Odamura was picked off second and T.J. Lehnertz was thrown out at the plate by first baseman Chris Skibinski on an infield grounder.

The momentum shifted to AU in the bottom of the third. The Eagles scored 10 runs on 11 hits. With one out, AU put together seven consecutive hits. Junior catcher Josh Gaub doubled for the only extra base hit in the inning and Bednarczyk had a two-run single. The onslaught drove SVSU starter Ryan Reid (7-3) from the mound.

Blessed with that big lead, Wright settled down and found his groove. The only run he allowed the rest of the way was a solo homer by Adam Piggott in the sixth inning.

Saturday’s two wins keeps the Eagles in the hunt to host next weekend’s GLIAC tournament. AU must match Grand Valley State in victories this weekend. GVSU is hosting Wayne State. Ashland plays two more games with Saginaw Valley on Sunday.