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First of Three
Baseball Showdowns Set for This Weekend When Grand Valley State
Comes Calling |
Imagine the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees condensing their season series of 18 games into three weeks and you have a pretty good idea of what’s in store for the baseball teams of Grand Valley State and Ashland. Grand Valley State (40-8) is ranked fourth in the country, first in the region and sits in first place in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Ashland (42-10) is 14th in the country, second in the region and second in the GLIAC. The teams open a four-game series this Saturday (May 6) with a doubleheader at 2 p.m., at AU’s Donges Field. Sunday (May 7, Noon) the two teams will play another twinbill. If the Eagles can win three of the four games, they will win the regular season title and earn the right to host next weekend’s four-team GLIAC tournament. The weekend after the GLIAC tourney comes the NCAA Division II North Central Region tournament. That consists of six teams. The winner of the double-elimination regional tournament will advance to the NCAA Championships in Montgomery, AL. Three weekends, and no telling how many matchups between the Lakers and the Eagles. Maybe this makes up for the fact that the teams haven’t played for two years. Last year’s four-game series was lost due to weather. “It’s a big weekend in regard to who hosts the conference tournament,” said AU head coach John Schaly. “We’d like to do that, we want to win. But most likely, we’ll see each other down the road.” The Eagles come into the weekend with an eight-game winning streak. AU features a pair of torrid hitters in infielder Justin Randall (Sarnia, ONT/St. Clair County C.C.) and infielder-outfielder Casey Jirsa (Tallmadge, OH). Randall is this week’s GLIAC player of the week – this is the third time he’s won the award. Randall is the GLIAC leader in batting average (.440), hits (80) and RBI (56). He’s second in doubles (18) and total bases (108). Jirsa is first in the conference in doubles (19) and total bases (113) and is second in hits (74) and on-base percentage (.500). The junior is tied for fourth in homers (6) and has knocked in 43 runs. “A year ago he (Jirsa) was playing injured – he had a bad wrist,” said Schaly. “He’s healthy now. He’s learned to use the whole field a lot better. He’s become a tougher out.” Randall, another junior, is in his first season at AU. It could be argued that the first few weeks of the season, teams didn’t know him well and didn’t know how to pitch him. That theory doesn’t work now. “He’s had a number of big hits,” said Schaly, who watched Randall club a three-run double last Sunday to help the Eagles wipe out an 8-1 deficit on the way to a 9-8 triumph over Findlay. Randall had three doubles and four RBI in that game. AU’s staff ace is junior righty Josh Davidson (Lexington, OH), who’s 13-3 with a 2.60 ERA. Davidson is the GLIAC pacesetter in wins, innings (86.2) and strikeouts (83). The Eagles have an interesting situation with the rest of the staff behind Davidson. No one’s sure how it lines up. Who’s the second starter – Douglas, senior righty Jim Barry (Mentor, OH), who’s 8-3, freshman righthander Todd Schlenkerman (LaGrange, OH/Keystone), who’s 6-0 or senior righthander Cody Castle (Dayton, OH/Sinclair C.C.), who’s 5-1? “I guess we don’t know who our No. 2 is,” admitted Schaly. “That’s because we have four guys who could be a No. 2. It shows that we have some depth.” Lee VanStreain is hitting .446 with 12 doubles. He’s driven in 33 runs. Casey Robrahn is hitting .421 with 10 doubles and 33 RBI. As a team, AU is hitting .356 and GVSU is swinging at .358. The Eagles sport a 3.76 ERA and Grand Valley’s team ERA is 3.99. The teams are mirror images with the glove – AU has a team fielding percentage of .960 and Grand Valley’s is .961. |