sports Thursday, 4 April 2013 // The Collegian4

Eagles hoist the championship trophy this year

CHRIS BILS @ChrisBils

SAN ANTONIO, Texas –

“AU Eagle Basketball” cannot be

explained in a sentence.

It cannot be accomplished

with just one person. It is not just

whole team.

result was a 71-56 win in the na-

Dowling College.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled

worked hard to make this season

with 26 points, 12 rebounds and

shots down the stretch that killed

ons were starting to gain.

came into the game, we knew

what we needed to do to be able

to win and people stepped up and

hit big shots.”

The Eagles executed their

in the nation coming in.

lead.

and six rebounds, but was kept

Connie Simmons.

the Elite Eight all-tournament

team with a 3-pointer that was

Joining her on the all-tournament

clock.

“… I just took it and as the ball

went through the hoop I saw the

was good timing I guess.’”

the moment.

humbling.”

OPINION

Out of the ordinary

pected. I mean, nothing interest-

teams to stare each other down

usual questions.

onship?”

… On and on and on with no

end in sight.

stick to the script.

into it, which made me think that

are as a team and it is a big rea-

I wondered: does Dowling

asked about it.

response.

Ashland because she wanted to be

somewhere where she could grow

“For me, I got hurt this season

back and experience this and to be

ible.”

At that moment, it was hard to

with Ashland women’s basketball

or cliché, but to me it could not

ball talents.

Nothing was guaranteed to her

when she made the decision to

something that most women who

about.

No one wants to win more than

blood, and it is what makes her

who watched the national champi-

onship.

the one to express the sentiment

game.

Amen.

CHRIS BILS @ChrisBils @ChrisBils

ELIZABETH BUCHEIT

(Left to right) Alyssa Miller, Daiva Gerbec, Kari Daugherty and Sue Ramsey respond to questions in a press conference before the national champion-ship game in San Antonio.

Ashland University, 71 vs Dowling College (NY), 56NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship — San Antonio, Texas (St. Mary’s University)

Making it look easy

ELIZABETH BUCHEIT

The Eagles pose with their new national championship trophy. They won in the Division II title game over Dowling College, 71-56.

ONLINE COVERAGEGo to ashlandcollegian.com for more stories and photos.

Videos, interviews and more are available at

youtube.com/AshlandJDM

National champst-shirts available

O! cial nationalchampionship t-shirtsare on sale at the AU

bookstore for $20.

Sizes 2X and 3X are $25.

top left// Kari Daugherty and Alyssa Miller share

tears and a hug after exiting in the ! nal few minutes of the

championship game.

top right// Daugherty dribbles past Dowling

College’s Danielle Wilson under the hoop.

bottom left// (from left) Chelsea Laporte, Alyssa Miller, McKenzie Miller, Delanie Wolf, Melanie Poorman and Lindsay

Tenyak cheer in the ! nal seconds of the game.

bottom right// Ramsey holds the net above her

head after the game.

right// Coach Sue Ramsey points to the sky after her Eagles secured a

national championship.

ashlandcollegian.com // Thursday, 4 April 2013 sports 5

KATE LENTZ @katemay_lentz

The Ashland University softball team went 0-2 against Grand Valley State, then bounced right back and swept Lake Superior State 2-0 and split, 1-1, against Northwood to

Grand Valley State

24 was looking promising for

Grand Valley State put on the

second inning and three in the

Galloway received the loss after

wasn’t enough to save the team

but the bats weren’t quiet for

her contribution going 2-for-4

The second game on Sun-day started the opposite from

momentum in the top of the seventh and scored three runs

Sophomore pitcher Sarah

Lake Superior StateAshland did a complete

180-degree turnaround and swept Lake Superior State 5-4

went 3-for-5 and drove in two

Senior Frankie Gironda was

Alley received the win dur-

nings, allowed three hits,

ers took the Eagles to a 5-3 win

At NorthwoodSaturday, Ashland Univer-

sity was faced with a bit of a

for the Eagles in game one and pitched all seven innings, but

Alley attacked the challenge and pitched the whole second game, only allowing six hits and

ters and struck out six with only

Alley is coming back this year after missing all of last

an ace for Ashland as a sopho-

again with a home run and two

The Eagles are now 11-12 overall, 5-3 in the Great Lakes

KEVIN STOICOVY @KevinStoicovy

At Wayne StateThe Eagles travelled to

Wayne State to start an eight game stretch away from home with a double-header against the

Eagles relied heavily upon the

The senior threw a complete game, going seven innings and

runs, and led the Eagles to a 5-2

Thomas also struck out two and did not walk a batter while

Wayne State got off to a quick

next batter — Brad Guenther — then hit a two-run home run to give the Warriors an early 2-0

That was the last offense Wayne State would produce though, as Thomas dominated the Warriors lineup afterwards, only allowing three hits for the

Thomas was also able to shrug off three errors commit-ted by AU’s defense en route to

The Eagles’ offense was lead

also had two hits and added an

gles’ bats did the work, recording

Every batter in Ashland’s

Senior catcher John Broll led the way with three hits in four at-bats — including two doubles — and

Ashland scored two runs in the second, three in the third and

That was enough for sopho-more starting pitcher Vince

gave up nine hits and four runs,

also had four strikeouts and four

closed the game in the seventh inning, earning his third save of

Both wins marked the seventh and eighth wins of a season-long eight-game winning streak for

State dropped to 11-9, 2-3 in

At WalshThe Eagles traveled to North

that began with a nine-inning

The game came down to the

5-4, on a game-winning hit in

Ashland’s downfall in the game was four crucial errors committed by its defense, none of which came more costly than two

enough base runners for Walsh

Sortwell continued his hot streak at the plate for the Eagles with two more hits and three

Sophomore shortstop Austin Walts and Broll also added two

Sophomore Jake Baldwin started the game on the mound

and allowing 11 hits and four

for the Eagles in relief, working

ing up the unearned game-win-

ended their eight-game winning

Ashland got back on the win-

doubleheader Saturday against Walsh behind another great per-formance from an Eagles’ start-

Senior Eric Vaughan earned the victory for AU, pitching a complete seven innings while

Vaughan struck out four and

Ashland led off the scoring in

That was more than enough

for Vaughan, who cruised to his fourth win of the season and is

The second game of the doubleheader went back into the

Ashland started the game strong, scoring three runs in the top of the second inning thanks

Walsh then responded with

The Eagles were able to chase

cho from the game in the fourth

shut Ashland down for the rest of

Ashland’s record stands at

Player of the Week for his efforts in the Eagles’ games this past

runs scored, one home run and

Ashland played a three-game

have a three-game series at home

AU SPORTS INFORMATION @goashlandeagles

Weems Baskin InvitationalThe Ashland University

throwers got the outdoor track

AU strength and conditioning

Wooster InvitationalThe Ashland University

men’s and women’s track and

Both teams competed at the

The Ashland women won

The AU men did a re-write of

2000 by Reggie Ray of Wooster

Scott led the pack and set a stadium record with a time

Baum also eclipsed the facility re-

The men’s 4X100 relay estab-

That bettered the previous record

The men’s 4X4 relay erased

Freshman Abby Strock was on both relays and was second in the

Two AU women had impres-sive performances on Saturday at

more Shaunisha Winter was sec-

Menhart’s bat leads softball to 3-­3 week

Baseball continues scorching start to season

Sweet spring airTrack and field moves outside

KAREN WINDLE

Above Right // Sophomore Elijha Owens races in the 110-meter hurdles, which he won in 14.57 seconds. He also won the 400 hurdles in 53.57 seconds.

Right // Freshman Emma Daugherty runs ahead of fellow freshman Jillian Bajaksouzian in the women’s 800-meter run. Daugherty was second in 2:22.37 and Bajaksouzian took third with a time of 2:26.73.

Above // Senior Nate Cooper leaps into the pit at the Wooster Invitational. Cooper won the triple jump and was third in the long jump.