Eagles Open GLIAC Baseball Play With Sweep at Hillsdale
April 6, 2005

The first two times the Ashland University baseball team tried to have its conference opening day, the conditions resembled late December in Green Bay, WI.

Wednesday (April 6), the Eagles opened Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play with a sweep at Hillsdale, beating the Chargers, 12-5 and 7-3. Ashland is 19-6 overall. Hillsdale is 4-12 and 3-7 in league action.

Outfielder David Waters banged out three hits in four trips to the plate in the first game. Waters homered and drove in four runs. The homer was his third of the season. Shortstop Jim Barry, catcher Matt Grewe and second baseman Adam Wilson had two RBI each. Grewe, Wilson and Troy Reeder were 2-for-4. Ashland had five extra-base hits among its 16 safeties.

AU broke the game open by scoring six times in the second inning. That surge wiped out a 1-0 Hillsdale lead. Sophomore Josh Davidson raised his record to 3-2 by pitching 6 1/3 innings and allowing five runs (three earned) on seven hits. Davidson walked one and struck out five. Dan McGinnis recorded the final out.

Kacey Gaffner took the loss, lasting 2 1/3 innings and allowing seven runs. Jake Howells had two hits for HC.

The second game began with AU scoring three runs in the first and the Chargers answering with two runs in the bottom of the stanza. But after the home team scored once more in the second, AU junior Lek Cole was in control. He upped his season mark to 4-0 with his second complete game of the season. Cole allowed three runs (two earned), on nine hits. He walked one and whiffed four. Ashland led, 4-3 after three innings and added three insurance runs in the seventh inning.

Sophomore first baseman Ron Oneson was 3-for-3 with a double and one RBI. Catcher Ray Frisbee went 2-for-3, raising his batting average to .415. The figure leads the team. Wilson scored a run in the second game, giving him 34 runs scored in 25 games. Davidson had a two-run double in the seventh inning.

Andy Lovell was saddled with the loss. He lasted six innings and gave up four runs on eight hits. He walked four and struck out one. Corey Krug allowed three runs on four hits in one inning.

AU will host a four-game series with Northwood this coming weekend (April 9-10).