Baseball Splits Pair Of 6-5 Games Against No. 8 Ashland

OVERVIEW – #8 ASHLAND

SCORES:  Ashland Eagles 6, Northwood Timberwolves 5 / Northwood 6, Ashland 5

RECORDS: Northwood (15-14, 10-5 GMAC), Ashland (23-5, 8-3 GMAC)

LOCATION: Gerace Stadium – Midland, Mich.

RECAP: Northwood baseball splits a pair of games against eighth-ranked Ashland by identical scores of 6-5 Saturday (April 6)

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS (SCHEDULED FOR SEVEN INNINGS)

• The Eagles took advantage of two Northwood errors in the top of the second to plate the first run of the contest.
• Ashland scored two runs on three hits in the top of the third to take the 3-0 advantage.
• A two-out, two run single up the middle by Matt Magno to put the score at 3-2 in the bottom of the third.
• A solo homerun in the top of the sixth inning stretched Ashland's lead to 4-2.
• With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Alex Jarboe delivered a two-run double, plating Myles Beale and Magno to tie the ballgame at 4-4.
• Both teams were held scoreless in the seventh, forcing extra innings. Ashland plated two runs in the top of the ninth with a single up the middle to end the scoring drought for both teams and reclaiming the lead at 6-4.
• In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Timberwolves plated a run on a passed ball, but were unable to score the tying run.

GAME ONE STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 5/8/4, Ashland 6/8/2
• Runners left on base: Northwood 5, Ashland 6
• Winning Pitcher – Zac Common  (3-0):  3 1/3 IP, H, 4 R, 2 BB, 5 K
• Losing Pitcher – Jake Carroll (3-4): 3 IP, H, 2 R (0 ER), 0 BB, 8 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Beale: 2-3, RBI, R
• Magno: 2-4, 2 RBI, R
• Jarboe: 1-2, 2 RBI, R

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS (SEVEN INNINGS)

• The Northwood offense got rolling early in the second game, plating three runs on three hits.
• A sacrifice fly by Myles Beale gave Northwood their first run, followed by a Blake Salamon RBI single to center field.
• Joey Johnston added an RBI single of his own to give NU the early 3-0 lead.
• Ashland responded with two runs in the top of the second inning to make the score 3-2.
• The Timberwolves extended their lead to 4-2 as Alex Cole's RBI single drove in Salamon.
• Ashland stayed alive in the top of the seventh, pushing across three runs to go ahead 5-4.
• Northwood responded in the seventh thanks to help from Ashland. Northwood used two walks and an error to load the bases with one out. Johnston hit a line-drive off the pitcher the led to an out at first but tied the game 5-5.
• After another walk to load the bases, a second error in the inning brought home the winning run for the Timberwolves

GAME TWO STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 6/7/1, Ashland 5/8/2
• Runners left on base: Northwood 4, Ashland 7
• Winning Pitcher – Owen Franklin (1-0):  2/3 IP, H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K
• Losing Pitcher – Common (3-1): 0 IP, 2 R, 2 BB

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Salamon: 2-3, RBI, R, BB
• Cole: 2-4, 2 RBI
• Johnston: 1-2, RBI, 2 BB
• Dominic Mauro: 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R (1 ER), BB, 4 K

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• Northwood now leads the four game series 2-1. All three games have ended with a 6-5 final score.

UP NEXT

• Northwood and Ashland will finish their weekend series with a nine-inning game Sunday (April 7). Game time is Noon.