April 5, 2008

Game 1 Stats
Game 2 Stats

ADRIAN, Mich. - The atmosphere was electric on Saturday afternoon as the Adrian College baseball team was treated to a wonderful dedication day of new Nicolay Field. The ballpark was christened with a pre-game ceremony honoring those who made the facility possible and then the Bulldogs come out and swept Tri-State by the scores of 7-0 and 5-2. Adrian improved to 13-5 overall and 6-2 in the MIAA and are now tied for second in the league standings.

The Bulldogs posted a 7-0 shutout in game one behind the arm and bat of senior Bobby Rickstad. He allowed just three hits (all singles) in a complete-game effort while walking one and striking out four batters. Rickstad also went 1-of-2 at the plate with three RBI and his fifth double of the year. Alexander Younce hit the first Adrian home run at the new park with a towering blast over the wall in left center field measuring some 385 feet. The two-run shot in the sixth inning ended the scoring for the Bulldogs.

Adrian collected eight hits in the game with seven coming off starter Elliot Gaff. Gaff went five innings and allowed five earned runs with two strikeouts. Alex Cowart also had a fine game in the opener going 2-of-3 with a run scored and an RBI.

The bats went silent in the first four innings of game two as Adam Shiltz held the Bulldogs to one hit. Tri-State however could not put the Bulldogs away struggling to push more than two runs across the plate. The Thunder left 10 runners on base in game two and had countless other miscues which kept Adrian in the game. The Bulldogs took full advantage by scoring once in the fifth and four more big runs in the sixth to take a 5-2 win.

The reserves were huge in game two in the sixth as Brett Miskokomon delivered a pinch hit single with one out to start the rally. Chris Kerekes pinch ran for Miskokomon and abruptly stole second to put the tying run in scoring position. Chad Meyer was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. Younce flied out to right and the stage was set for late game heroics with two outs. Andrew Anderson doubled for the second time in the game and drove home Kerekes with the tying run while Meyer advanced to third. Adam Schumacher pinch hit and was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Head Coach Craig Rainey went to his bench once again and Brian Bilius picked up a bat and promptly drove a double into the right center gap clearing the bases and giving Bilius three RBI and a three-run lead.

Nick Vandike threw the final four innings in relief of starter Alex Webster and picked up the win (2-0). Vandike allowed three hits in his four innings and struck out four. Shiltz took the loss (1-3) going six innings and allowing five hits and four earned runs with three strikeouts. Tri-State had 12 hits (all singles) off Webster and Vandike but committed three errors in game two.