ADRIAN, Mich. - The Adrian College softball team has reached the homestretch of the 2022 campaign, or should we say "road" stretch, as the Bulldogs will close out the regular season with back-to-back doubleheaders at Calvin University and Kalamazoo College. Whatever you call it, the black and gold are hopeful it will carry them in the postseason, but they will need some help to get there.
Coming into this week, the 'Dogs currently sit in seventh-place in the MIAA's softball standings. Consecutive sweeps against the Knights and Hornets would do the trick, but Adrian will also need Saint Mary's College to drop at least one of its last four games to have a stronger chance of clinching the fourth seed.
Hailey DeChalk continues to pace the locals from the plate with a 0.368 batting average and 35 hits. She is also tied with
Lauren McCulligh for the team-lead with 20 runs batted in. The duo ranks first and second, respectively on the roster in home runs, but as a team, the Bulldogs are one of five in the league to have less than ten fences-clearing shots this season.
Ava Ferrarelli and
Maggie Leveille sport identical 0.326 hitting marks behind DeChalk, and just ahead of McCulligh (0.321). That Bulldog combo is responsible for 57 total hits -- including 11 doubles -- and 29 RBIs.
In the circle,
Macee Schang (3-4) boasts a team-best WHIP of 1.73, and has retired 57 batters on strikes in 52 complete-innings of work. Her 0.249 batting-average against remains the lowest of the Bulldogs' rotation, as she has allowed an average of two hits over her last seven appearances.
Both of Adrian's opponents this week have won four in-a-row, but Calvin has faired better against in-league foes this season, actively sitting at 8-4 compared to the Hornets' 5-5 mark.
The Knights enter the week with the MIAA's third-highest batting average at 0.323, led by outfielder Hannah Biddlecome. The senior is batting 0.462 on the season and has muscled 49 hits while picking-up a league-best 24 stolen bases.
As far as pitching goes, Kirsten Krause (12-5) ranks first in the conference in earned-run average (0.93), and fourth in total strikeouts (91).
Kalamazoo, on the other hand, is led on the rubber by Sam Moss (8-5) and Jordan Cook (8-5), who have each thrown for over 70 innings, and have a combined 96 strikeouts.
At the plate, Lucy Hart is the only Hornet in the line-up with a batting average greater than 0.400 (0.412). She is also the only member of the team with multiple home runs, triples and doubles on the year.
Against Kalamazoo, the Bulldogs have won six of the last eight meetings, but have lost six of their last eight outings versus Calvin.
Live stats and video will be available for both of this week's doubleheaders.
