May 6, 2010

Trine Box Score
Saint Mary's Box Score

ALMA, Mich. - The Bee Gees anthem of Stayin' Alive would have been the soundtrack on Thursday as the Bulldogs (28-10) split a pair of games at the MIAA Tournament hosted by Alma College. Adrian could not generate much offense in a 4-1 loss to Trine University in the first game of the day as AC moved into the consolation bracket.

Adrian took a 1-0 lead in the second inning as Kristin Toney hit her second home run of the season to leadoff the inning. Kelly Eberhardt kept Trine off the board until the sixth inning as the Thunder scored three times. The Thunder had four straight singles to start the inning as Tara Sipperley gave Trine the lead, 2-1, with a two-run single. Cassie Byrd had a RBI groundout with one out to give Trine the 3-1 lead.

Trine added a run in the seventh on a single by Alishia Raak and then three wild pitches which moved Raak around the bases. Eberhardt (18-7) went the distance for the Bulldogs as she allowed six hits and one walk with eight strikeouts. Andi Gasco went seven innings for Trine and limited Adrian to four hits. She walked three and struck out nine.

Adrian was the visiting team against Saint Mary's in a loser-go-home contest. Both Eberhardt and Angela Gillis competed in a pitcher's duel until the sixth as Adrian broke through with two runs. Alicia Bickford doubled and then moved to third on a Meghan Stevens single. Kristen Toney had a two-out run-scoring single to give AC a 1-0 lead. The second run scored on the same play as shortstop Maureen Healy was given an error which allowed pinch runner Shannon McWherter to score from second. Adrian took the lead into the bottom of the seventh when the Belles stormed back to tie the game at 2-2. Lauren Enayati singled and then two errors led to Saint Mary's first run. The second error allowed Enayati to score from second and put runners at first and third with one out. Ashley Peterson stole second and then Gillis helped her own cause with an RBI groundout to tie the game.

Adrian responded in the eighth as Bickford led off with a single to right. Stevens moved her to second on a sacrifice bunt. Jenna Kloster singled Bickford to third and then Toney hit a sacrifice fly to center to generate the winning run for the Bulldogs. The Belles had a runner reach with two outs in the bottom half of the inning but a ground out to short ended the game and kept Adrian's hopes alive.

Adrian will face host Alma at noon on Friday in an elimination game. The Scots lost to Trine in the final game on Thursday. Adrian would need three straight wins to claim the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA regionals.