DEMOREST, Ga.--Senior Zack Zschering went 3-for-6, freshman Maxwell Denny earned his first collegiate win and senior Dugan Darnell notched his first career save as the Adrian College baseball team knocked off host Piedmont College in a battle of nationally-ranked teams on Tuesday.
THE BASICS
= Final Scoreline: Adrian College 9-8-1, Piedmont College 7-10-4
= Location: Loudermilk Field, Demorest, Ga.; Weather Conditions: Sunny, 34 degrees, Wind NW 14 mph
= Records: Adrian Bulldogs, 2-1 overall; Piedmont Lions, 11-4 overall
= National Rankings: Adrian is No. 26 by American Baseball Coaches Association/Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (215 points) and "receiving votes" in D3baseball.com/National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (40 points) poll; Piedmont is No. 19 by D3baseball/NCBWA (172 points) and "receiving votes" in ABCA/CBN poll
TOP 'DAWGS
= Zschering finished with two runs scored and a run batted in.
= Darnell, who started at third base and finished off the ninth on the mound, had a hit with a walk and two RBI.
= Senior Brandon Baldus had a hit and knocked in two runs.
= The Adrian bullpen of Denny (1.1IP, 2K), senior Jesse Marks (0.0IP), junior Spencer Ford (1.1IP, 2K) and Darnell (1.0 IP, 3K) did not allow an earned run.
FOR THE OPPOSITION
= Cameron Johnson and Brady Ballstadt both went 2-for-5 with a run scored, two RBI and a walk.
= Andrew Burden and Noah Heatherly chipped in two hits apiece.
= Jonathen Burkett drew three walks and knocked home two runs.
= Tyler Sheley scored three times and had three walks.
HOW IT HAPPENED
= With Adrian taking a slim 9-7 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning, Darnell struck out the side in order while throwing nine strikes on 14 pitches to preserve the win.
= In the eighth inning, sophomore Nick Rauch drew a bases loaded walk to give the Bulldogs an insurance run by extending the lead to 9-7.
= The teams combined for seven runs in a wild seventh inning. Zschering snapped a 4-4 tie when he scored on a wild pitch as Adrian went ahead to stay. Darnell, Baldus and sophomore Brandon Cooper added on RBI-singles to make it 8-4. The Lions, however, got three runs back in the bottom half on a Ballstadt two-run single and Burkett bases loaded walk.
=Adrian jumped out to a 4-0 advantage with a run in four of the first five frames. Rainey opened the scoring with a RBI-single in the first as the Bulldogs never trailed.
= Piedmont got on the scoreboard in the fifth when Burkett walked with the bases loaded and Ballstadt later scored on a wild pitch. Johnson had a two-run single in the next inning to knot the score 4-all.
= The Lions left 14 runners on base while the Bulldogs had 11.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
= Adrian is 2-0 versus nationally-ranked teams in 2019, including the season opener over No. 13/21 Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
= Darnell, who is an infielder by trade, earned his first career save in his first pitching appearance as a Bulldog.
= Adrian improves to 4-6 all-time at Piedmont and earns its first victory over the Lions since Feb. 28, 2012, 8-3.
= Luke Harris '15, who played and coached with the Bulldogs, is now in his first season as an assistant on the Piedmont coaching staff.
= Senior Korey Mazur, who alongside teammate Gunner Rainey is on the D3baseball.com National Team of the Week, is ranked fifth in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association with a .455 batting average.
UP NEXT
= The Bulldogs wrap up their spring break trip in Georgia with a pair of non-conference games at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, starting on Friday at 5 p.m. and concluding on Saturday at 1 p.m.
#AdrianBulldogs #GoDawgs #BulldogProud
