Ashland University Softball sweeps doubleheader over Ursuline College

ASHLAND — The Ashland University softball team appears to be settling into Deb Miller Field at the Archer Ballpark Complex.

Utilizing strong pitching from seniors Kayla Ruperto and Josie Duncan, timely hitting and some sparkling defense, AU swept a double-header from Ursuline College in Great Midwest Athletic Conference action on Tuesday, winning by scores of 3-0 and 9-1.

AU is now 4-0 at Deb Miller Field, 3-3 in GMAC play, and 9-17 overall. Ursuline slips to 0-5 in the GMAC, and 0-18 overall, respectively.

“We have a little bit of juju here, and I think we like it,” AU coach Emlyn Knerem offered about the Lady Eagles liking their new ball diamond. “These kinds of games where we’re having fun, and we’re loose, and it allows me to be loose and have fun, so we’re just enjoying it.”

Ruperto tossed a near-seamless first game, allowing just a pair of singles in tossing the complete game shutout, fanning three and walking none in her 70-pitch gem.

“Today, I came in and wanted to be efficient, I wanted to pound the zone, let my defense work, to me that’s what I want them to do,” Ruperto pointed out. “The past couple of games, I wasn’t as efficient, I was getting behind in the count, so today I really wanted to get up on the batters, so that I would be efficient.”

Ashland scored a single run in the first inning with two outs as senior Hailey Struckman doubled, advanced to third on an Ursuline infield error, then scored on their second error of the inning.

In the second inning, Eagle senior Lauren McMillan came up big as she legged out a two-out triple to score senior Haylee Frost and freshman Danielle Robbins, both of whom singled with two outs.

“I wasn’t looking to do anything special, I was doing my job, finding a place to move those runners, either move them or get them in,” McMillan noted. “Nothing too crazy, just something simple, find a little hole and do my job.”

Frost slapped a trio of singles for AU, with Robbins pegging a couple of singles.

In the nightcap, Duncan worked her way out of a jam in the first inning, as Ursuline had runners on second and third with no outs.

But Duncan, who had walked the leadoff batter on four pitches, reared back and struck out the last three batters to get out of the inning unscathed.

She would go on to throw a complete game in a handful of innings, striking out five and yielding just one earned run on three hits.

“I wouldn’t say I was quite nervous but just unfortunate, not finding the strike zone yet, and then come back from that and have our defense work too,” Duncan said of getting out of the first inning as her batterymate, junior Jordyn Severns appeared to talk to her to calm her down. “Jordyn is always good behind the plate. She tells you, ‘hey I need you now,’ so she always gathers you back together.”

Ashland scored all of the runs they needed in the first inning, tallying four runs, then adding single runs in the second and fourth innings before ending the game in the fifth inning with three runs.

Seniors Cat Lohse and Kaitlyn Carney both had RBI singles in the first inning for the Lady Eagles, McMillan tripled in the second frame and scored on Struckman’s single, and Severns had an incredible at-bat in the fourth frame when she induced a 10-pitch base on balls with the bases loaded to score a run.

In the fifth inning, Struckman stroked a 2-run single to plate two, and she later scored the game-ending run on a wild pitch.

“A few of those (hits) I got jammed but they just dropped where I needed them to, but I was seeing the ball well,” Struckman noted. “I felt pretty good today coming in. We knew we had to hit the ball hard, get the job done. I think all of us came together and strung those hits well.”

McMillan ended with a trio of hits, and Struckman banged out a pair.

Ashland also played excellent defense on the day as Carney in left, McMillan in center, and Frost in right, all played flawlessly. McMillan and Carney both made diving catches at their positions to bring the partisan AU fans to their feet.

“Our three senior outfielders are just incredible, they’ve grown so much in the last four years,” praised Knerem. “I’d be willing to bet we have the best outfield in the conference. They just cover so much ground, they read the ball really well, they’re willing to lay out for any ball they get, and we’ve seen it a lot, so they’re tough out there. I’m glad they’re on our team.”

It’s the second straight week Rupeerto and Duncan have shined at Deb Miller Field.

“Kayla was super sharp today, very efficient, and she’s just shooting ground balls and those routine fly balls, and we’re getting outs and playing great defense behind her, it makes it really easy on the pitcher in the circle, so I thought she looked great today,” Knerem lauded. “And Josie was getting outs too. With a little bit of a rough start in the first inning but she settled in, and again, we had really tight defense behind her.”

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Ashland University Softball sweeps doubleheader over Ursuline College