Eagles drop 2 of 3 to IUS, need sweep to win conference

Asbury hosted its biggest threat to the KIAC title, Indiana University-Southeast, Wednesday and Thursday and took one of three games from the Grenadiers. IUS won the first two games 10-3, 1-0, and Asbury won the final game 7-1.

The win put the Eagles (9-3) one game behind the Grenadiers (11-3) for first place in the KIAC standings. Asbury has four games left at Brescia University (9-3) this weekend, and IUS has two games against Alice Lloyd College (1-9). Assuming IUS sweeps Alice Lloyd, Asbury must win all four games at Brescia to finish with an identical 13-3 record with the Grenadiers. If that happens, since the two teams are 2-2 against each other this season, the conference champ would be decided by the second tiebreaker — record against next-highest seed. Asbury would have a 4-0 record against BU, and IUS would have a 3-1 record, giving Asbury the championship. Asbury plays doubleheaders with Brescia today and tomorrow.

Despite the two losses, the Eagles remained optimistic about the weekend series.

“I love the way we’re sitting right now,” Head Coach Bob Silvanik said. We have our two aces going Friday (Greg Bowling and Mark Deetsch, and then we’ve got depth in our pitching staff — we can win every game, I think.”

Freshman Danny Olszowy wasn’t surprised that the Eagles control their fate.

“We believed,” he said. “No one else did, but the 30 guys in there definitely believed. We fully expected to be in this situation at this time.”

IUS 10, Asbury 3 (Wed.)

Asbury couldn’t find the strike zone in game one, walking 16 batters en route to the 10-3 loss. Freshman starter Jerrad Robin (0-2) walked eight batters in just one inning of work and gave up four runs, putting the Eagles in a deficit they couldn’t climb out of. Freshman Bradley Williams came in for long relief and walked seven in 4 2/3 innings while allowing five runs, three earned. Sophomore Brandon Boardman walked one more while giving up a run in the final 1 1/3 innings.

The big trouble came in the second inning after Asbury had just gone up 1-0 on an RBI single by catcher Zach Monroe. A walk and an error put runners on first and third with nobody out for Robin. Four straight walks scored three runs and ended Robin’s day. Williams walked in another run before finally getting out of the inning. The scoreboard for IUS at the end of the second read: four runs, no hits. All said and done, the Grenadiers drew six bases-loaded walks on the day.

Monroe finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs including a solo homerun, his 13th, in the fourth inning off of Alex Sedam (5-4)

IUS 1, Asbury 0 (Thurs.)

Both starters pitched gems in the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader, but a hanging curveball cost freshman Joshua Cummins (1-3) the win.

With two outs in the second inning, Paul Dunagan blasted an 0-2 pitch for his first homerun of the season. It was one of only three hits the Cummins gave up in his six innings. Sophomore Travis McConathy pitched a perfect seventh.

The Eagles struggled to get anything going against IUS’s Kris Eschman (5-2), who allowed just two hits in the game. He also struck out seven batters and walked just one.

Monroe and Mark Deetsch were the only two Eagles to bang out a hit off of Eschman.

“That was just one of those games you get every now and then where pitchers dominate, and the hitters are all frustrated on both teams,” Silvanik said. “To get a performance like that from Josh Cummins, even though it was a loss for us, it was just real promising for the depth of our staff.”

“Cummins has just stepped up, even though he’s a freshman,” sophomore Cody Christopher, who started the final game, said. “He’s a legit pitcher.”

Asbury 7, IUS 1

The Eagles found their offense in the final game of the series, pounding out at least one run in four of the seven innings.

Christopher (5-2) went the distance to earn his team-high fifth win of the season. After allowing a run in the first inning, he held the Grenadiers to just four hits over the final six innings. He struck out six and walked two.

“My arm felt stronger than it has all year,” Christopher said. “I was throwing my fastball a little harder, and I was placing the ball basically wherever I wanted to today.”

The right-hander had given up four runs or more in each of his last three appearances, even though his record was 2-0 in those outings.

“My mechanics haven’t really been there, so I’ve been doing drills, trying to get my mechanics back to normal,” he said. “It seems like it worked.”

Asbury struck early against Cort Alsop (0-2). With two on and two out into in the second inning, freshman Danny Olszowy hit a first-pitch fastball over the right field fence for a three-run homerun, his second of the season. The Eagles never looked back.

They tacked on another run in the fourth when Gardner Adams scored on a groundout to shortstop by Deetsch. Asbury then executed a perfect squeeze play in the sixth inning. Luke Temple, who had already popped out on a bunt in the second inning, laid down a slow roller to the pitcher that scored fellow senior Slade Halvaksz. Travis Martin added the final run later that inning on a two-out single.