EASTLAKE, Ohio – The Lake Erie baseball team returned home for their first of three straight series to end the season at home with the first series coming against the Ashland Eagles. Ashland would open the series with a 9-0 shutout in game one. Down to their last out, Lake Erie would force extra innings and walk it off in game two for a 5-4 victory. Ashland would jump ahead early in games three and four for 10-3 and 9-6 victories to take the series, handing Lake Erie their third straight series defeat. Lake Erie would drop to fifth in the north division, but are currently sixth in the overall standings.
 
Team Records
 
Lake Erie: 19-20 (11-13)
Ashland: 30-11 (19-5) 
 
Game Recaps
 
Game 1:
Ashland- 9
Lake Erie- 0
 
After two scoreless innings, Ashland would strike first in the third for two runs on two hits and an error to take a 2-0 lead. The Eagles would add one run in the fourth and fifth for a 4-0 lead. Ashland would break the game open in the sixth with three runs crossing home, growing their lead to 7-0. The Eagles continued to add on with two more runs in the seventh for a 9-0 lead. The Storm would threaten in the bottom half, getting runners on second and third, but each runner would be left stranded. Ashland would keep Lake Erie quiet at the plate in the last two innings to secure a 9-0 shutout victory in game one. 
 
W: Griffin Ailes (2-0) - 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
L: Robert Helt (4-5) - 4.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
S: Owen Cavey (1) – 3.0 IP, H, 0 ER, BB, 5 K
 
Key Team Stats:
 
Batting-
Runners Left on Base: Storm- 7, Eagles- 11
Walks: Storm- 4, Eagles- 8
Strikeouts: Storm- 8, Eagles- 9
Stolen Bases: Storm- 0, Eagles- 3
 
Pitching-
Walks: Storm- 8, Eagles- 4
Strikeouts: Storm- 9, Eagles- 8
Hit by Pitches: Storm- 3, Eagles- 1
 
Fielding-
Errors: Storm- 2, Eagles- 0
 
Game 1 Top Storm Performers: 
 
R-Fr. Seth Yacobucci: 2-4 
Soph. Jaxson Christ: 1-3, BB, K
R-Sr. Sebastian Silva: 1-3
 
Game 2:
Lake Erie- 5
Ashland- 4
(9 Innings)
 
Game two began with each team being held hitless threw the first three innings. Ashland would strike first in the fourth for one run on one hit and an error to take a 1-0 lead. The Eagles would add another run in the sixth bringing the score to 2-0. Lake Erie would get their first runs of the day in the seventh with an RBI double from Seth Yacobucci and an RBI single from Zimba Cadiz to tie the game at 2-2 to force extra innings. Ashland would add one in the eighth to take a 3-2 lead. Jaxson Christ would hit an RBI single to tie the game at 3-3 in the bottom half. The Eagles added another run in the ninth for a 4-3 lead. In the bottom half, Cadiz would deliver with an RBI single to tie the game at 4-4. Christ would be the hero as he would deliver the game-winning RBI, scoring Alex Jones to take the 5-4 extra innings victory in game two.  
 
W: Brandon Metivier (2-2) – 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K
L: Chase Carter (3-3) – 2.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R (1 ER), BB, K
 
Key Team Stats:
 
Batting-
Runners Left on Base: Storm- 7, Eagles- 5
Walks: Storm- 4, Eagles- 3
Strikeouts: Storm- 8, Eagles- 10
Stolen Bases: Storm- 0, Eagles- 1
 
Pitching-
Walks: Storm- 3, Eagles- 4
Strikeouts: Storm- 10, Eagles- 8
Hit by Pitches: Storm- 0, Eagles- 1
 
Fielding-
Errors: Storm- 2, Eagles- 1
 
Game 2 Top Storm Performers:
 
Soph. Jaxson Christ: 1-5, 2 RBI, K
Sr. Zimba Cadiz: 2-4, 2 RBI, 2 K
R-Fr. Seth Yacobucci: 1-3, 2B, RBI, 2 R
 
Game 3:
Ashland- 10
Lake Erie- 3
 
Ashland jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first on a hit and an error. The Eagles would add two more runs in the second on three hits and an error for a 3-0 lead. Ashland continued to pour on runs in the fourth adding four more runs on two hits and an error bringing the score to 7-0. Lake Erie would get on the board in the fifth with an RBI hit by pitch from Seth Yacobucci, cutting the lead to 7-1. The Eagles would tack on three more runs on four hits in the seventh, growing the lead to 10-1. The Storm would not go down without a fight, putting up two runs in the bottom half with an RBI double from Micah Geise and an RBI single from Yacobucci, but the lead was too much as Ashland would take game three 10-3.
 
W: Hunter Allen (7-0) – 5.0 IP, 2 H, ER, 3 BB, 8 K
L: Dominic Poltrone (3-3) – 3.1 IP, 6 H, 7 R (3 ER), 2 BB, 3 K
 
Key Team Stats:
 
Batting-
Runners Left on Base: Storm- 7, Eagles- 8
Walks: Storm- 4, Eagles- 3
Strikeouts: Storm- 11, Eagles- 8
Stolen Bases: Storm- 1, Eagles- 1
 
Pitching-
Walks: Storm- 3, Eagles- 4
Strikeouts: Storm- 8, Eagles- 11
Hit by Pitches: Storm- 1, Eagles- 1
 
Fielding-
Errors: Storm- 3, Eagles- 0
 
Game 3 Top Storm Performers:
 
R-Fr. Seth Yacobucci: 1-3, 2 RBI
Soph. Micah Geise: 1-2, 2B, RBI, R, 2 BB
Soph. Travis Yankovich: 2-3, R, K 
 
Game 4:
Ashland- 9
Lake Erie- 6
 
Ashland began game four going with a 1-0 lead after the first. Lake Erie would tie the game at 1-1 in the third with an RBI single from Seth Yacobucci. The Eagles would answer back in the fourth, putting up three runs on one hit to move ahead 4-1. Ashland added one more in the fifth for a 5-1 lead. Garrett Esposito would deliver an RBI single in the sixth, cutting the lead to 5-2. The Eagles responded in the seventh for four runs on one hit, growing their lead to 9-2. The Storm answered back in the bottom half for three runs on a Jaxson Christ RBI single, and a solo home run from Ty Sowers, his first of the season and career, bringing the score to 9-5. Lake Erie showed late life in the ninth putting up one with an RBI groundout from Christ, but Ashland would hold for the 9-6 game four victory, securing the series. 
 
W: Marshall Leishman (5-3) – 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, BB, 8 K
L: Gregory Kennedy (3-3) – 3.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 4 K
 
Key Team Stats:
 
Batting-
Runners Left on Base: Storm- 7, Eagles- 14
Walks: Storm- 1, Eagles- 11
Strikeouts: Storm- 15, Eagles- 11
Stolen Bases: Storm- 0, Eagles- 0
 
Pitching-
Walks: Storm- 11, Eagles- 1
Strikeouts: Storm- 11, Eagles- 15
Hit by Pitches: Storm- 3, Eagles- 0
 
Fielding-
Errors: Storm- 0, Eagles- 1
 
Game 4 Top Storm Performers:
 
Soph. Jaxson Christ: 1-5, 2 RBI, 2 K
Jr. Ty Sowers: 1-3, HR (1), RBI, R, BB, 2 K
R-Fr. Seth Yacobucci: 3-5, 2B, RBI, R, K
 
Series Evaluation
 
Late Inning Grit: The Storm offense has shown throughout the season that they will fight and grind until the last out. In game two, down to their last out, they were able to tie the game to force extra innings and then walk it off in the ninth. In game three, they put up two runs in the seventh and in game four they put up four runs from the seventh until the game ended.
 
Contending with the Best: Lake Erie has been able to show that they can compete with the top teams in the conference (Ashland and Northwood), taking a game in each of the two series. Statistically, Northwood and Ashland rank in the top three of batting average, ERA, and fielding percentage. In the latest NCBWA poll, Northwood is ranked 4th in the Midwest region, while Ashland is right behind them at 5th. 
 
Falling Behind Early: The Storm dug themselves into holes early in each game of the series. In each game, Ashland would grab the lead first and early in games, putting more pressure on the pitching staff and defense, and giving the offense a taller task against a potent pitching staff.
 
The Matchup
 
Lake Erie's series defeat brings their all-time record to 9-35 against Ashland. Lake Erie has taken at least one game in each of their last three series. Lake Erie's last series victory against Ashland came in 2011. 
 
Looking Ahead
 
Lake Erie continues their stay at home with a series against the University of Findlay beginning on Saturday, April 26th.
 
Findlay is currently 20-19 overall and 12-10 in the G-MAC. Since north division play has begun, Findlay was swept at Ashland, split with Hillsdale at home, and won three of four against Tiffin.  In the 2025 G-MAC preseason poll, the Oilers were voted to finish 4th in the north division. 
 
Findlay currently is 8th in the G-MAC in batting average (.266), 8th in ERA (6.36), and 7th in fielding percentage (.962 with 49 errors).