ADRIAN, Mich. – The Adrian College softball team saw their six-game win streak come to a close Thursday, as they would split their doubleheader with Calvin University. In game one, the Bulldogs completed their third six-game win streak of the season with an 8-6 victory. Abbi Patton recorded her 11th win of the year, while Karson Bagelmann led all players with three hits. In game two, the Bulldogs saw their win streak snap after a 10-2 loss to Calvin. Bagelmann would tie a game-high with two hits in the loss Thursday.
Game One
During the bottom of the first, the Bulldogs were able to get on the board early. The Bulldogs would use the momentum from Bagelmann and record three base runners in the inning. With the bases loaded,
Maggie Leveille would walk, which scored Bagelmann and gave the Bulldogs a one-run lead.
After Calvin tied the game at one all in the top of the second, Bagelmann singled to center field and scored
Meghan Lupu. Later,
Hailey DeChalk followed with a double to right center, scoring
Brynn McKay and Bagelmann during the play. At the end of the second inning, Adrian would lead 4-1. Later, the Bulldogs saw their lead trim to just one. In the bottom of the fourth, Adrian College would add to their lead after McKay doubled to left field, scoring Bagelmann, to give the Bulldogs a 5-3 advantage. However, Calvin would eventually lead after five and a half innings, as they would score three runs in the top of the fifth.
In the bottom half of the fifth inning,
Paige Stein was able to reach first on a defensive error, which allowed
Genna Marasco to score. Later in the inning,
Flesia Borck reached base on a fielder's choice and advanced to second, while
Makenzi Johnson advanced to third. During the play, Lupu and
Sophia Shaw scored to give the Bulldogs an 8-6 lead.
Neither team would score for the remainder of the contest as the Bulldogs closed out game one with a victory over the Knights. With her game-one victory, Patton moved into a tie for the second most wins in the conference. Currently, Patton's teammate
Macee Schang leads all players in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association with 14.
Game Two
The Bulldogs would lose their second game of the doubleheader 10-2 Thursday. In the first inning of game two, the Bulldogs were able to take a 2-0 lead over the Knights. During the inning, DeChalk would double to left field and drive in Bagelmann during the play. Following DeChalk's hit, Payton Russell doubled to right field and scored her teammate DeChalk to give the Bulldogs the 2-0 lead. However, in the bottom half of the inning, Calvin would respond with two runs to tie the game up.
Calvin would record a seven-run inning in the bottom of the third, which propelled them to a victory over the Bulldogs Thursday. After the first inning, the Bulldogs would record two hits over the remainder of the game.
MIAA Tournament Picture
After today's doubleheader split, the Adrian College softball team finds themselves in third place in the conference. Currently, the Bulldogs are one game back of Calvin for a share of the second seed and is three games back of Trine for the first seed. Trine owns the tiebreaker over the Bulldogs after sweeping Adrian on Saturday, April 8. Today, Trine swept Hope College in their doubleheader this afternoon. With the Thunder's sweep over the Flying Dutch, Adrian now has a two-game lead over Hope College, who are fifth place in the conference.
Historical Notes
For the sixth time in program history, the Adrian College softball team has recorded 25 or more wins. The last time the Bulldogs would win 25 or more games was in 2011 when they went on to claim 35 victories. With Patton's game one victory, she propelled herself to a tie with Brooke Stewart (2013) for the 11th most wins in a season with 11 Thursday. Additionally, game one's 8-6 victory snapped a six-game losing streak to the Knights that dated back to April 2019.
Bagelmann's five combined hits in games one and two moved her into a tie with Krissy Sheets (2007), Meghan Stevens (2009), and Kristin Toney (2011) for the ninth most hits in a season at 52.
Up Next
The Adrian College softball team will travel to Alma, Michigan to face Alma College on Saturday, April 29, at 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM. Live Stats and live stream information are available under the Adrian College softball schedule.
