ADRIAN, Mich. -- The Adrian College baseball team has officially punched its ticket to the MIAA Conference Tournament and locked up the No. 3 seed after Saturday's doubleheader. The Bulldogs hosted the Kalamazoo College Hornets on Saturday splitting the doubleheader with a 14-5 loss and game one followed by a 12-6 win in game two. Adrian also honored its senior class of 2022 in between games consisting of Nathan Mix, Andrew Hribar, Dylan Johnson, Aaron Valentine, Kevin Cardentey, Austin Frederick, Trevor Usher, Tyler Usher, Maxwell Denny, and Andrew Giorno.

GAME 1 RECAP
Things didn't go as planned for the Bulldogs who needed to sweep Kalamazoo in order to host a first round game of the MIAA Tournament. Kalamazoo took an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first before Kevin Cardentey homered in the bottom of the inning to trail 3-1. Kalamazoo added two in the third, two in the fourth, and three in the fifth to take a big 10-1 lead. Ryan Davis singled in a run in the fifth to make it 10-2. The Hornets struck for two more in the seventh inning to lead 12-2, but the Bulldogs scored three in the bottom of the inning to avoid the mercy rule. AJ Miranda drew a bases loaded walk followed by a long 2-RBI single off the left field wall from Aaron Valentine to make it 12-5. Kalamazoo went on to score two more runs in the ninth to lock up the victory.

Joe Toth got the start as he struggled and went just three inning allowing seven runs on nine hits to pick up the loss. Tripp Russo, Daniel Gutierrez, and Dylan Butler all threw scoreless innings out of the pen as Adrian finished the game pitching by committee. 

GAME 2 RECAP
Things started the same in game two as Kalamazoo got on the board in the top of the first on a two-run homer. Davis answered with a RBI single in the bottom of the inning followed by a solo home run from Easton Rogers in the bottom of the second to tie the game 2-2. Kalamazoo picked up a pair of runs in the third inning to lead 4-2, but Davis homered to left center to cut into the lead. In the fifth, the Bulldogs scored three runs on a RBI double from Ty Peck and a 2-RBI double from Nathan Grega to lead 6-4. Kalamazoo responded and tied the game 6-6 in the seventh, but didn't hold the lead for long. Owen Brown singled in a pair of runs with the bases loaded in the seventh followed by an error on a fly ball to centerfield from Davis and a bases loaded walk to Rogers to lead 10-6. Adrian added two more in the eighth on a RBI single from Cardentey and another RBI single from Brown.

Luc St. Antoine got the start for Adrian lasting three innings allowing four runs on four hits. Michael Swanson went 3.1 innings out of the bullpen followed by 1.2 scoreless from Gage Ricker who recorded the win. Jacob Hanoian finished the game with a scoreless ninth.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs wrap up the regular season on the road tomorrow at Kalamazoo with the season finale starting at 1:00 PM. After that, the Bulldogs will compete in the first round of the MIAA Conference Tournament on the road at Kalamazoo on Wednesday followed by the rest of the tournament at Hope College on Thursday and Friday. Stay tuned for updates on the MIAA Tournament.