Pitching Carries Baseball To Big Doubleheader Sweep At Ashland

OVERVIEW – ASHLAND

SCORES: Northwood Timberwolves 9, Ashland Eagles 0 / Northwood 7, Ashland 1

RECORDS: Northwood (29-12, 20-2 G-MAC), Ashland (26-13, 16-6 G-MAC)

LOCATION: Ashland, Ohio

RECAP: In a matchup of the top-two teams in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC), Northwood baseball rides outstanding pitching to a doubleheader sweep over Ashland. The Timberwolves took game one 9-0 and game two 7-1

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS (NINE INNINGS)

• Game one featured a matchup of two of the top starting pitchers in the G-MAC, as Derek Clark (5-0) and Brendan Beaver (4-0) were each unbeaten conference play entering the contest.
• Northwood pieced together a run in the second inning thanks to an RBI single from David Jeffers that plated Rhett Evans.
• The score was still 1-0 in the fifth when Northwood put together a rally. After the first two batter were retired, the Timberwolves went single-single-walk before Matt Magno came through with a two-run single that made the score 3-0.
• Blake Salamon followed with a RBI double that brought home Magno and put NU on top 4-0.
• Jacob Rybicki pushed the lead to 5-0 in the seventh with a double.
• The Timberwolves offense kept the momentum going in the top of the eighth, starting with a Jeffers RBI single.
• Rybicki followed with a bases loaded walk to make the score 7-0 in the eighth.
• Salamon rounded out the scoring with a two-run homer to center field to make the final 9-0.
• Derek Clark finished off his best start of the season, earning his first shutout of 2023. He struck out nine while allowing five hits and now walks in nine innings of work. He needed just 98 pitches to complete the game.

GAME ONE STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 9/14/0, Ashland 0/5/2
• Runners left on base: Northwood 7, Ashland 5
• Winning Pitcher: Derek Clark (8-1) – 9 IP, 5 H, 9 K
• Losing Pitcher: Brendan Beaver (5-1) – 7 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 5 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Salamon: 2-4, 2B, R, 3 RBIs
• Magno: 3-5, 2 RBIs
• Jeffers 2-5, 2 RBIs
• Joey Johnston 2-3, 2 R

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• Clark's win is the 21st of his career, matching the school record set by Tyler Jandron (2017-18).
• In the win, Clark also set a new school record for innings pitched in a career. He now stands at 237.0 for his career, breaking the old record of Trent Mulder (2003-06) of 229.0.
• Salamon's home run was his 15th of the season, which ties the Northwood season record. Bill Gorski (1983) and Ed Dreslinski (1990) both hit 15 in a season for the current record.

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS (SEVEN INNINGS)

• The game was scoreless in fifth inning when the Timberwolves got rolling. Caden Duryea put Northwood on the board with a two-run double.
• Duryea then came home on a Magno RBI single to make the score 3-0.
• Alex Cole added to the lead in the top of the sixth with a two-run homer that gave NU a 5-0 lead.
• In the seventh, Magno made the score 6-0 with an RBI double.
• Evans pushed the advantage to 7-0 with an RBI single
• Northwood nearly had two shutout on the day, but Ashland connected on a one-out solo homer in the final inning to make the final score 7-1.
• Zach Abbey responded to the home run to retire the final two batters, capping off a three-hit complete game where he struck out 12.

GAME TWO STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 7/10/0, Ashland 1/3/1
• Runners left on base: Northwood 6, Ashland 2
• Winning Pitcher: Zach Abbey (2-0) – 7 IP, 3 H, R, BB, 12 Ks
• Losing Pitcher: Josh Meyer (3-3) – 6 IP, 7 H, 5 R, BB, 5 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Magno: 2-4, R, 2 RBIs
• Cole: HR, 2 RBIs
• Duryea: 2B, 2 RBIs
• Salamon 2-4, R

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• Prior to the AU homer in the seventh inning of game two, Ashland had no extra base hits the entire day. They had just one runner reach second base before the home run.

UP NEXT

• Northwood and Ashland will conclude their four-game series with a doubleheader Monday (April 24). First pitch is set for 1 p.m.