ADRIAN, Mich. – The Adrian College NCBA D1 baseball team was back in action this weekend with a doubleheader against Hillsdale College at Nicolay Field. The Bulldogs won both games, giving them their first two wins of the season.
Game 1
Adrian jumped out to an early lead in the bottom half of the first. After Kaden Meeks singled through the left side of the infield, a wild pitch put him in scoring position. Jesse Leyva brought Meeks home on a groundout, giving Adrian the 1-0 lead.
Cam Wakefield put together another great start on the mound for the Bulldogs, going two innings, allowing no runs, and racking up four strikeouts.
Hillsdale evened things up in the top half of the third with an RBI single. In the home half of the fourth, Adrian put up a four-spot to give themselves a 5-1 lead. Tyler Hall and Ryan McDonald started off the inning with back-to-back triples. Alex Strauss brought McDonald in with an RBI single, but a throwing error by Hillsdale allowed Strauss to get to third.
The fifth inning saw each team score two runs, giving Adrian a 7-3 lead. In the sixth, Adrian added two insurance runs to give themselves a six-run cushion.
Hillsdale chipped at the lead with two runs in the seventh inning, but Connor Strong limited damage to earn Adrian a 9-5 victory in game one.
Game 2
Connor Reneau started the second game of Saturday's doubleheader. He worked out of trouble, keeping Hillsdale off the board in the first. Adrian rattled off a two-out rally, scoring five runs in the home half.
Hillsdale's offense had the bases loaded and nobody out in the top of the second. Reneau struck the next two Chargers out swinging, but walked the next batter.
In the third and fourth innings, Adrian played small ball to bring home three more runs.
Jimmy Ashburn and Kaden Meeks were stellar in relief, combining for three innings, three strikeouts, and no hits allowed.
Hillsdale showed life in the sixth, scoring two runs. Ryley Heck limited the damage and held on to the lead, giving the Bulldogs the doubleheader sweep.
Up Next
Adrian's will spend next weekend at the Battle Creek Blast. They will take on Western Michigan on Friday at 4:30 PM, Oakland on Saturday at 2:30 PM, and Illinois on Saturday at 5 PM.
