ALMA, Mich. - The baseball team went to Klenk Park in Alma on Thursday and came away with a pair of wins over the Scots, 5-2 and 3-0, to improve to 18-6 overall and 13-1 in the MIAA. The recipe of clutch hitting and near dominant pitching propelled the Bulldogs to their fifth and sixth straight victories.
Alma jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning and kept that lead until Adrian scored three times in the top of the third inning. The third began with Andrew DeLuca reaching on an error and then got picked off. Chris Kerekes picked his teammate up with a one-out single to right field. Cody Meyer followed with a double to left field moving Kerekes to third. Brian Bilius drove both runners home with a double to give Adrian a 2-1 lead. Jake Cappelletty then had a two-out RBI single up the middle to score Bilius from second.
The Scots responded with a run in the bottom of the third to make it 3-2. Adrian added two more runs in the top of the fifth and then Ryan Domschot sealed the win with shutdown pitching. Meyer drew a one-out walk in the fifth and then Bilius singled up the middle moving Meyer to third. Nate Sarkissian had an RBI single scoring Meyer as Bilius moved to third. Sarkissian then stole second and Cappelletty hit a sacrifice fly to center plating Bilius with the fifth run for the Bulldogs.
Alma put runners on second and third with one out in the bottom of the fifth, but Domschot buckled down and got a dribbler back to the mound and a strikeout looking to end the inning. Domschot then set down the Scots in order in the sixth and seventh to end the game retiring the final eight hitters.
Domschot improved to 3-2 on the hill going the distance and allowing six hits. He gave up just one earned run and walked one with nine strikeouts. Corey Brohl fell to 1-3 for Alma also going seven innings and allowing seven hits. He gave up four earned runs with four walks and four strikeouts.
David Partyka turned in another stellar performance in game two pitching his third shutout of the season. He is now 5-1 this season with a 2.18 ERA. Partyka scattered eight hits in seven innings and did not walk a batter with four strikeouts. Jay Sackett took the loss for Alma (0-3) allowing seven hits in seven innings. Alma made three errors which led to three unearned runs. Sackett did not walk a batter and struck out two.
Adrian scored all of their runs in the fifth inning thanks to those Alma miscues. Joe Dubina reached on an error to start the inning. Dubina took second on a passed ball and then Garrett Green reached on an error to put runners on the corners with no outs. Meyer then singled to right to give Adrian a 1-0 lead. DeLuca then bunted the runners over to second and third with one out. Green then scored on a wild pitch and Meyer moved to third. Bilius grounded out to shortstop for the second out and Sarkissian reached on an error by the right fielder who recovered to throw him out at second. Meyer scored on the play to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead.
Meyer went 2-for-4 in game two and Kyle Strawn also had a pair of hits in three at-bats in the nightcap. The Bulldogs will host Siena Heights in a nine-inning game tomorrow at 6:00 PM.
