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2004 GLIAC Baseball
Championship Day One: GVSU Knocks Off Eagles, SVSU Holds Off Wayne
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Friday (May 7) was one of the longest days of the season for the Ashland University baseball team and not just because a rain delay put the Eagles and Grand Valley State on the sidelines for four and a half hours. AU lost in the second round of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament, 16-2 to GVSU at Donges Field. The game began at 10:15 a.m. and at 11:30, heavy storms moved through the area, causing the game to be suspended. Play finally began again at 4 p.m. After AU and GVSU finished, Wayne State met Saginaw Valley State in an elimination game. That game ended at 8:30 p.m., with SVSU winning, 7-5. The loss eliminated Wayne State from the tourney. On Saturday (May 8), Ashland and SVSU will clash at noon. The winner moves on to meet Grand Valley State later in the afternoon. If the survivor downs Grand Valley, the tournament’s final game will be played Sunday (May 9) afternoon. GVSU (38-14) chased AU starter Cody Castle after one-third of an inning on Friday. Castle (8-3) was touched up for nine runs (eight earned) on seven hits. Three pitchers followed Castle to the mound. Freshman lefty Matt Patton pitched the longest in relief, going four innings. Grand Valley State led, 12-0 after three inning and 16-0 after six frames. Ashland (44-12) scored both its runs in the eighth inning. Scott Allen went 2-for-5 with three RBI for the Lakers and Brandon McFarland was 2-for-6 with five RBI. Elijah Beckwith was 3-for-6 and drove in a pair of runs. GVSU had 18 hits. AU freshman first baseman Ron Oneson and junior outfielder Allen Ayers both went 2-for-4. GVSU starter Matt Rafeld improved to 9-2 with the victory. He went eight innings and allowed eight hits. Rafeld didn’t walk a batter and fanned eight. Saginaw Valley (26-24) got exceptional work out of the bullpen in Friday’s second game. Jim Kelly (4-0) worked 5 1/3 innings and didn’t allow a run. He gave up four hits, walked one and struck out six. SVSU had taken an early lead, striking for single runs in each of the first three innings. Wayne State (22-28) countered with a five-run salvo in the top of the fourth inning. SVSU went ahead to stay with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Jason Burghardt went 3-for-4 for SVSU. Chris Hanna was 3-for-5 with a triple and two RBI. Catcher Kurt Neveau was 4-for-5. Nick Demers and Kurt Kieleszewski both went 2-for-4 with two RBI for Wayne State. Joe Neal was 3-for-4. Demers had a double. |