BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Adrian College baseball team took on No. 4 Birmingham Southern on the road on Monday evening to wrap up the three-game set in Alabama. Adrian led in the seventh, but struggled late falling to Birmingham Southern 6-5.
The Bulldogs struck first on a RBI groundout in the second inning from
Joe Casale. Birmingham Southern answered in the third inning on a RBI single and backed it in the fifth scoring another run on a fielder's choice. In the sixth inning,
Alejandro Montada doubled to center field to score
Easton Rogers and
Jakob Charles to retake the lead. In the seventh inning,
Logan Loeffler led the inning with a double.
Jack Boike came into the game to pinch run and scored on a RBI single from
Tyler Whitfield.
The bullpen struggled to find the strike zone late in the game. With the bases loaded, Birmingham Southern scored three runs on walks to take a 5-4 lead. The next batter put them ahead of Adrian by two after reaching on a fielder's choice scoring another run.
With their backs against the wall in the ninth, Adrian was forced to use the bench. Linkin Hayward came in to pinch hit and homered down the right field line to put the Bulldogs within one. Adrian couldn't tie the game late and dropped the contest 6-5.
Montada led the offense with a 3-for-3 performance with a pair of doubles and a pair of RBIs. The pitching staff struggled to find the zone walking 15 batters on Monday night to go with three hit batters.
Griffin Firestine recorded five strikeouts in four innings of work as the starting pitcher.
Adrian is set up for another battle tomorrow night as they take on No. 2 LaGrange on the road at 6:00 PM EST.
