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Eagles, Cardinals
Divide Sunday Twinbill |
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Complete Box Scores For the Ashland University baseball team, it seemed like Sunday’s (May 4), second game was gone in a matter of seconds. The Eagles had won the first three games of a four-game series with Saginaw Valley State and had the Cards on the ropes in the fourth game. Then SVSU’s Mike Crawford emerged. The outfielder had a three-run triple and a two-run homer in Sunday’s second game to give the visitors a 6-2 triumph. Ashland had won the first game, 7-3. A win in the nightcap would have meant AU would serve as the host for next weekend’s GLIAC tournament. Now that honor goes to Grand Valley State, which swept Wayne State over the weekend. GVSU wins the regular season title over AU thanks to a .759 winning percentage. Ashland’s conference winning percentage is .750 The second game loss snapped a nine-game AU winning streak. The Eagles complete the regular season at 35-16-1, 22-7-1 in league action. In Sunday’s first game, AU pounded out 10 hits. SVUS led, 3-2 when AU scored five times in the bottom of the fourth inning. Catcher Josh Gaub and shortstop Tim Hinchliffe had doubles in the inning. Hinchliffe’s two-bagger drove in a pair of runs. Hot-hitting third baseman Eric McDaniel singled in a run and Butch Kaufman, pinch hitting for Mark Kahlenberg, singled to drive in a run. AU’s first two runs came thanks to a monster homer to left field by Chris Skibinski. The senior infielder launched his fourth homer of the season off of starter and loser, Eric Caldwell (3-3). The Eagles received a strong mound effort from senior righty Jon Krugman. After giving up a run in the third and two more in the fourth, Krugman settled in and completely shut down the Cardinals. He set the visitors down in order in the fifth and sixth and just missed in the seventh, hitting one batter. Krugman allowed four hits, hit two batters and walked one. He struck out seven in raising his record to 7-3. The second game started out as a slugfest. The Cardinals scored four times in the second inning. Three runs came home on bases-loaded, two-out triple by Crawford. AU answered with two runs in the second, McDaniel driving in Brock Wiskochil and Josh Gaub with a double. Wiskochil and Gaub had opened the inning with singles. Skibiniski, who started for the ninth time this season, departed with one out and one on in the third. He was relieved by sophomore lefthander Ryan Doulgas, who held the Cards in check until Crawford belted his two-run homer to left in the sixth. Douglas departed in favor of junior righty Chad Moore in the sixth. The Eagles wasted a prime scoring opportunity in the fifth, loading the bases with no one out. SVSU starter and winner Mark Debo escaped that jam by getting Richie Jones on a called third strike, Brandon Cornell on a popout to short and Wiskochil on a fly to short. The SVSU lefty is 6-2. The split leaves the Cardinals at 28-16, 18-11 in the GLIAC. With the loss, Skibinski falls to 5-3. |