Box Score Photo Gallery | Tournament Central
XENIA, Ohio – Facing elimination in the 2014 GLIAC Tournament, the Wayne State University baseball team (35-14) responded with a convincing 9-4 victory over Ashland (24-21) on Friday afternoon.
Kyle Zimmerman (Frankfort, Mich.) (7-2) went all nine innings for his third complete game of the season while striking out 10 Eagles. The Warrior offense helped the Green & Gold match the program record for wins with 13 hits including six extra base hits.
Eric Cunningham (LaSalle, Ont. / St. Thomas of Villanova) smacked a two-out triple past the Ashland center fielder before Zimmerman staked himself to a 1-0 lead with an RBI single up the middle.
Following a leadoff walk to
Griffin Harms (Bingham Farms, Mich. / Birmingham Groves) in the bottom of the second,
Zach Johnson (Grandville, Mich.) put the Warriors ahead 3-0 with a two-run home run to left field, his second of the season.
Cole Clifton (Sterling Heights. Mich. / De La Salle) broke the game open with a two-run single into center field in the bottom of the third inning.
Jeremy Carrell (St. Clair, Mich.) and
Travis Rodery (Wyandotte, Mich. / Roosevelt) started the bottom of the fourth inning with back-to-back doubles to produce a run and
Cameron Walker (Clinton Twp., Mich. / De La Salle) added another run with a double down the right field line, giving WSU a 7-0 lead.
Ashland got on the board in the top of the fifth inning with a two-run home run.
Zimmerman gave WSU a 9-2 lead with a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Eagles committed two errors in the inning.
Ashland pulled within six runs with a solo home run in the top of the eighth inning and tacked on a fourth run in the top of the ninth inning. However, Zimmerman would settle down and collect the final out of the inning to send WSU on to Saturday's third round.
Carrell finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored while Zimmerman drove in three runs.
The Warriors will play at 2 PM on Saturday with an opponent to be determined.