Eagles End Regular Season on High Note
May 2, 2004

Long ago, George Steinbrenner used to ridicule outfielder Dave Winfield for being, “Mr. May.”

In college baseball, no one snickers about productivity in May.

The Ashland University baseball team closed out the regular season Sunday (May 2) at Findlay with three wins. The Eagles wrapped up a suspended game, knocking off the Oilers, 15-7. AU then added two more wins, stopping UF, 5-0 and 7-3. Ashland is 43-11, 23-5 in GLIAC play. The Eagles are the regular season GLIAC champs and will host the four-team, double-elimination conference tournament that begins this coming Thursday (May 6).

The Eagles went 8-0 this week and will take an 11-game winning streak into the league tourney. As the scores this past week indicate, AU is playing well in all phases of the game.

In the suspended game, AU pounded out 15 hits. Findlay made it interesting early, scoring seven times in the third inning to erase a 5-0 AU advantage. But sophomore Jim Barry, pitching in relief of starter Bryce Bednarczyk, gave AU five outstanding innings. Barry (2-0) allowed one run and it was unearned. He was touched for just three hits and while he was cooling off the Oilers, the AU bats were coming alive. AU broke the game open by scoring six times in the fifth inning.

Sophomore outfielder David Waters was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles. First baseman Ron Oneson was 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI. Catcher Josh Gaub had a double and chased home three runs.

In the first game of Sunday’s regularly-scheduled twinbill, junior Cody Castle raised his record to 8-2 with a shutout. Castle scattered eight hits. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out eight. Leadoff hitter Allen Ayers went 4-for-4 with two runs scored. Freshman designated hitter Josh Davidson and Oneson had three hits apiece. Senior center fielder Brandon Cornell had two hits and two RBI. AU had a 1-0 lead before pushing three runs across home plate in the top of the fifth inning.

Nate Sole (5-3) took the loss. He allowed 12 hits and four runs in six innings. Chad Feasel and Adam Bateson had two hits each for the Oilers.

In the final game, Ayers and backup catcher Ray Frisbee had two hits apiece to lead the Eagles. Junior righty Matt Pignato kept the Oilers under wraps in his six-inning stint. Pignato (4-1) gave up three runs on eight hits. Senior Chad Moore closed out the weekend with a perfect seventh inning.

Rob Talpas went 2-for-3 with a double for UF (23-28/13-19 GLIAC). Richie Van Hoose had the game’s lone homer, his sixth of the campaign.