March 20, 2010

Box Score

ADRIAN, Mich. - The baseball atmosphere was like a postseason game on Friday night as the 24th-ranked Bulldogs welcomed third-ranked Heidelberg to Nicolay Field. Heidelberg had revenge on their mind after getting bounced from the 2009 NCAA Mideast Regional by Adrian on the same field. It was the second straight year that AC eliminated the Student Prince from the regional.

It looked like the same ol' story as Adrian went down 4-0 in the top of the first only to rally with nine straight runs over the first five innings to take a 9-4 lead. The `Berg did not hang their heads but instead responded with an eight-run sixth inning to take over the lead for good at 12-9. Heidelberg added a run in the seventh and pitchers Ethan Holt and Andy Lowe kept Adrian off the scoreboard over the final four innings.

Adrian gave up four runs in the top half of the first as starter David Partyka saw the first four batters reach base. Elvin Williams hit the first pitch of the game into center and Ricky Lizcano followed by hitting a 1-2 pitch over the wall in center for a quick 2-0 lead. Gar Keen drew a walk and Willie Brechun followed with a double to right center which scored Keen. Steve Decker's single to center gave him an RBI as Brechun scored. Partyka struck out the last two batters and then seemed to settle down going into the sixth.

Adrian crawled back into the game with a run in the first as their first three batters reached base. Nate Sarkissian was hit by a pitch and Andrew Anderson followed with a bunt single. Alex Cowart then had an RBI single through the left side to trim the lead to 4-1. The Bulldogs tied the game in the second with three runs on three base hits off `Berg starter Brian Koehl. Brian Bilius led off with a single and Jason Greer followed with a single to center. Williams bobbled the ball off a bounce and Bilius ended up on third and Greer on second. Cody Meyer's RBI groundout to short cut the lead to 4-2. Joe Dubina had an RBI ground-rule double to right center as Greer scored to make it 4-3. Dubina advanced to third on a groundout and then scored a two-out run on a wild pitch to tie the game at 4-4.

The scoring continued in the bottom of the fifth as Adrian scored five times to take a 9-4 lead. Greer had an RBI walk to make it 5-4 and Meyer followed with a RBI single to right which made it 6-4. Holt entered the game for Heidelberg on the mound and allowed all three inherited runners to score. Dubina reached on a fielder's choice just beating out a double play with a head-first slide into first base to make it 7-4. Steve Vanderheyden flared a single into right center as Greer scored for a 8-4 lead. Sarkissian laced a double to left scoring Dubina to give Adrian a 9-4 lead. Koehl's final line included 4.1 innings, eight hits, nine earned runs, four walks and three strikeouts.

Heidelberg saw the first six hitters reach base in the eight-run sixth as Williams had a big two-run bases loaded double down the right field line to cut the lead to 9-7. Adrian used Josh Burd and Craig Steadman out of the bullpen but neither could stop the `Berg as they rolled past the Bulldogs. Jason Lash had an RBI single to tie the game at 9-9 and Sean Hartman entered the game for Adrian. Lizcano scored the eventual winning run on a wild pitch to make it 10-9 and Decker bashed a triple to left center plating the final two runs of the rally. Hartman gave up one unearned run in the seventh as Heidelberg scored on an error with two outs to make it 13-9. Lowe was impressive in relief for Heidelberg as he retired the last six batters with three strikeouts.

The teams combined for 27 hits on the night. Sarkissian went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Cowart also went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Meyer went 2-for-5 with two RBI's. Dubina was 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI's. The bottom third of the order came through for Adrian going a combined 5-for-13 with five RBI's. Heidelberg will host Adrian (4-3) in a doubleheader on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 1:00 p.m.