ADRIAN, Mich. - The dominant pitching by the Adrian College baseball team continued on Thursday (Mar. 31) as the Bulldogs claimed a pair of shutout wins over Trine University, 5-0 and 6-0, at Nicolay Field. The Bulldogs improved to 11-4 overall and 6-0 in the MIAA having finished a six-game, three-day stretch due to weather conditions last week. The MLB-type schedule did not bother the Adrian arms as they exit today's doubleheader with a team ERA of 0.86 in six conference games this season. The pitching staff was also struck out 33 batters in 42 innings of work and opponents are hitting just .164 against Adrian.
A pair of fresh faces got the start with the unusual schedule as sophomore Zach Robbins and freshman Rylie Robinson filled in admirably. Robbins started game one and retired the final 12 batters he faced until a leadoff walk in the fifth inning to Kyle Kleiman. Robbins threw five innings of no-hit ball, but was replaced in the sixth inning by junior Sean Hartman. He allowed a leadoff double in the sixth to break up a no-hit bid. Robbins walked two and struck out two in a 64-pitch outing over five innings. Hartman struck out one in his two innings of work.
Adrian scored three times in the third inning off Trine ace Kale Popp. Popp entered the game with a 2-2 record and a 0.93 ERA, but yielded eight hits and four earned runs in six innings. Popp only struck out one Bulldog in a 79-pitch effort. Cody Meyer, Andrew DeLuca and Nate Sarkissian had an RBI single in the inning.
AC added two more runs in the fifth inning as Sarkissian had another RBI single and Garrett Green followed with an RBI single. Adrian had no errors in the field in game one as Brian Bilius played very well at third base with a career-high six assists. DeLuca finished 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored. Adrian had eight singles and left five runners on base in game one.
In game two, Robinson had a shaky first inning loading the bases, but got Andrew DeGood to ground out to second base to keep it a scoreless tie. After that he settled down and gave up just two hits in five innings improving to 1-1 on the hill. Robinson walked three and struck out two Thunder batters. Brent Greenwood threw a scoreless inning with a strikeout in the sixth. Craig Steadman also threw a scoreless inning in the seventh striking out the final hitter of the game.
It was head coach Craig Rainey's 399th win at Adrian College. Adrian scored four times in the first inning and added single runs in the third and fifth innings. Joe Dubina had a career-high four RBI's in the nightcap with a bases-clearing triple to left center in the first. It was Dubina's first career three-bagger. Bilius had a RBI triple in the first as well and also scored a run. Green scored a pair of runs and walked in game two.
