GVSU Opens Weekend Baseball Series With Saturday Sweep
May 6, 2006

On Saturday (May 6) morning, in front of Founders Hall, the Ashland University Class of 2006 put on their caps and gowns.

Later that afternoon at AU’s Donges Field, the Ashland University baseball team was forced to don caps and frowns.

The Eagles saw their chance to host the four-team Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference baseball tournament evaporate as they lost two games to first place Grand Valley State. The Lakers swept the Eagles, 9-2 and 4-2 to clinch the home field for the tourney. GVSU is 42-8, 26-3 in the conference. Ashland is 42-12 and 23-7. To move past the Lakers and earn hosting rights, the Eagles needed to win three of four games in this weekend series.

GVSU is ranked first in the North Central region and the Eagles are second. AU will try to gain some revenge Sunday (May 7) when the teams play two more games at Donges Field.

In Saturday’s first game, AU starter Josh Davidson cruised through the initial two innings. He ran into trouble in the third when with one out, shortstop Dan Skirka reached on a two-base error. Davidson whipped a called third strike past GVSU left fielder Nate Secor, but then walked leadoff hitter Jeff Carrero. Lee VanStreain followed with a single to plate Skirka and Justin McKenzie’s double to center brought home VanStreain.

AU’s Bryan Thrasher got home a run in the fourth with a sacrifice fly to right, cutting the GVSU lead to 2-1. However, the bottom fell out for the Eagles in the next two frames. In the fifth, the Lakers scored three times. Carrero, McKenzie and Nick Smith rapped doubles in the inning.

The Lakers drove Davidson (13-4), who leads the GLIAC in victories, off the mound in the sixth, getting to him for three more runs. Those scores were unearned as the Eagles committed a throwing error on a bunt play. Davidson left after one out in favor of righty Thom Abbott. The final line for Davidson read nine runs – three earned – on eight hits in 5.1 innings. He walked two and struck out two.

AU could do little against GVSU starter Jeff Sinicki. The righthander raised his record to 7-2 with a route-going performance. He allowed two runs and five hits, walking two and fanning four. No AU player had more than one hit.

McKenzie was 3-for-4 with three RBI for the Lakers and VanStreain was 2-for-3 with two RBI.

The Lakers called on undefeated lefthander Grant Payton in the second game. Payton is an expert at changing speeds and he kept the Eagles off balance for much of the afternoon. The one time AU had him on the ropes was in the third inning, when the Eagles got doubles from David Waters and Jim Barry, plus a single from Justin Randall, to score two runs. Payton, now 11-0, weathered that storm and in seven innings, allowed two runs on seven hits. He struck out four and didn’t walk a batter.

The fifth inning was AU’s undoing. Grand Valley scored all four of its runs in that frame. While the Lakers did get four runs in the inning, AU pitchers fired a wild pitch and hit two batters in the stanza. Starter and loser Cody Castle (5-2) began the inning and after one out, gave way to Ryan Douglas. The senior lefthander didn’t escape the inning, walking one, hitting two and allowing one hit. Abbott finally got the Eagles out of the jam by getting Casey Robrahn to hit into a double play. AU turned three double plays in the second game.

Castle’s line read three runs on five hits with two walks and a strikeout in 4.1 innings. Abbott finished the game with a strong outing, permitting no runs and a pair of hits in 2.2 innings. The sophomore walked one and struck out two.

Randall and Casey Jirsa were both 2-for-3 for the Eagles. McKenzie and Brandon Bard were 2-for-3 for GVSU.