HOLLAND, Mich. – The Adrian College baseball team had an opportunity to pull into a first-place tie in the MIAA standings with a sweep of Hope College on Wednesday but narrowly missed out with a split against the Flying Dutchmen from Boeve Stadium.

Adrian evened their record to 3-3 in one-run games with a 5-4 defeat in game one. The Bulldogs led 4-1 through one and a half innings with four runs in the top of the second. Hope responded with three runs in the bottom of the third and then added the winning run in the bottom of the fifth.

Adrian's second inning started with one out and Dan Heatherly being hit by a pitch. Zach Kolvey reached on an error by Eric Dawson at third base putting runners on first and second. Anthony Sergi flew out to right allowing Heatherly to take third with two outs. R.J. Rios tied the game with an RBI single and Kolvey advanced to third. Ben Yax followed with a two-RBI double and Andrew DeLuca doubled home Yax for the three-run cushion.

Hope's third inning was aided by RBI hits from Eric Vachon and Alex Hunt. Vachon's single cut the lead to 4-2 and Hunt's double tied the game at 4-4. Both runs scored with two outs and Chris Blair's run which tied the game resulted when he reached by being hit by a pitch.

Hope's game-winning run was scored on a RBI single by Josh Kranz with two outs. Austin Abbott relieved Cory Fox in the fifth and gave up the big hit. Fox allowed the winning run to reach base and therefore took the loss (2-1). Fox went 4.1 innings and yielded four earned runs with two walks and a strikeout. Abbott finished 1.2 innings with two hits. Adrian had the tying-run on first in the sixth and seventh but could not bring it home. Sam Fischer had two hits in four at-bats and was the lone Bulldog with a multi-hit game.

Adrian's game two win was highlighted by a three-run sixth inning which turned the game around. Trailing 4-3, Jamey Sackett and Heatherly both walked and then Mitch Stefanski delivered a three-run homer, his second of the season, to give AC a 6-4 lead. Adrian added an insurance run in the seventh as Fischer led off with a single and stole second. Sackett bunted him to third and after a groundout, Rios had a RBI single.

Jeff Gertley got his first start of the season in left field batting seventh in the order. He responded going 2-for-4 with a RBI. Sergi had his first double of the season in three at-bats. Yax had his second double of the season and scored a run in three at-bats. Rylie Robinson turned in his second win of the season going the distance. He allowed eight hits and four earned runs with four walks and four punchouts. Matt Glowacki took the loss in relief for Hope.

The Bulldogs will play a non-conference game at Siena Heights on Thursday with a 4 p.m. first pitch.