MOUNT BERRY, Ga.--The Adrian College baseball team went 1-1 in a split-doubleheader on Saturday at the Berry College Invitational, falling to 19th-ranked Denison, 9-2, before knocking off the host Vikings, 2-1.

THE BASICS
= Final Scoreline: Denison University 9-10-2, Adrian College 2-7-1; Adrian College 2-9-0, Berry College 1-7-1

= Location: William R. Bowdoin Field, Mount Berry, Ga.; Weather: Clear, 53 degrees, Wind NW 15 mph

= Records: Adrian Bulldogs 3-5; Denison Big Red 2-2; Berry Vikings 9-4

= National Rankings: Adrian is No. 14 by the American Baseball Coaches Association/Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (247 points) preseason poll and "receiving votes" in the D3baseball.com/National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (21 points) poll; Denison is No. 9 in the ABCA/CBN poll (260 points), No. 19 by D3baseball/NCBWA (140); Berry is "receiving votes" by D3baseball/NCBWA (3).

TOP 'DAWGS
= Senior Brady Wood went 2-for-4 versus Denison

= Junior Brandon Wegner was 2-for-4 with a run batted in against Berry.

= Senior Pierce Banks (W, 2-0) scattered seven hits and two walks while allowing an earned run in picking up his second win of the season. He struck out eight Vikings in seven innings. 

= Classmate Spencer Ford earned his first save of the spring after pitching two scoreless, hitless innings with two strikeouts. He did not walk anyone. 

THE OPPOSITION for DENISON
= Max Lahn, Will Krushena and Vince Walker had two hits apiece to lead

= Taylor Perrett (W, 1-0) struck out six and walked none in five innings of work for the win. He scattered six hits and allowed two runs, one earned.

THE OPPOSITION for BERRY
= Evan Romeo was 2-for-3 with a double.

= Zach Huie went 2-for-4 with a double. 

HOW IT HAPPENED vs DENISON
= The Big Red scored five times in the top of the sixth inning to snap a 2-2 tie. Danny Alvarez hit a two-run single to left field to put Denison ahead for good, making the score 4-2.

= Adrian tied it 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth when junior Ty Peck had a RBI-single to left field and senior Tristin Richardson, who doubled before Peck reached, eventually scored on a throwing error by the catcher into center field.

= Denison jumped out to a 2-0 in the top of the first as Krushena had a RBI-double to center field and Sam Correa crossed the plate when Brian McAuliffe hit into a double play.

= Denison outhit Adrian 10-7; the Big Red left six runners on base to eight for the Bulldogs.

HOW IT HAPPENED vs BERRY
= Junior Sean O'Keefe broke a 1-1 deadlock in the top of the eighth inning with a single through the left side to score Wood from third base. After one out, Wood doubled to the left-center gap and went to third on junior Brandon Cooper's groundout to the pitcher.

= In the home half of the frame, the Vikings got a base runner with two outs when he was hit by a pitch. After a stolen base by Tyler Calvert, Ford got a strikeout to strand the man in scoring position.

= After two quick outs in the bottom of the ninth, pinch-hitter Dalton Turnbow gave Bulldogs fans a scare when he lifted a towering flyball to right field where Richardson made the game-ending catch against the fence to preserve the win.

= Wegner gave Adrian a 1-0 lead in the fourth with a RBI-single to left field.

= The Vikings tied it 1-1 in the next inning when Dalton Smith singled up the middle for a run batted in.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
= Adrian/Denison was a rematch of their game last spring in the 2019 NCAA Division III Mideast Regional hosted in Adrian, Mich., where the Bulldogs eliminated the Big Red, 5-3, to get to the championship game.

= Adrian leads Denison in the all-time series, 3-1.

= The Bulldogs go up 3-2 in the all-time series with Berry.

= Banks moves past Craig Reynolds for fourth place on the Bulldogs' all-time strikeouts chart with 221. Banks also ties Ryan Domschot (25-9, 2008-11) for fourth with 25 career wins.

= Adrian's 3.42 earned-run average ranks second in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association. The Bulldogs' pitching staff also ranks first in strikeouts (75) and punch-outs per 9 innings (9.88), led by Banks who has taken over the MIAA lead with 27 Ks.

NEXT UP
= Adrian wraps up the Berry Invitational tomorrow against Wisconsin-Oshkosh, with first-pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.

#AdrianBulldogs #GoDawgs #BulldogProud