WESTFIELD, Ind.--Fifth-year senior Pierce Banks and junior Kyle Goldberg combined on a two-hitter as No. 17 Adrian stifled No. 3 North Central (Illinois), 4-0, in a battle of nationally ranked programs on Friday afternoon, giving Bulldogs head coach Craig Rainey '89 his 700th career victory at the school. The loss for North Central is their first since an 11-2 loss to Webster on May 19th, 2019.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Adrian got all the offense it would need in the top of the fourth inning. Senior Sean O'Keefe sacrificed to the pitcher and when he couldn't make the play, freshman Joe Casale came around from second base and scored on the throwing error to first. Classmate Ty Peck made it 2-0 when he doubled home fifth-year senior Tristin Richardson who had reached on an infield single to third base.
• Adrian added to its lead in the fifth as Casale had a RBI-single to center field to plate fifth-year senior Brady Wood after he had led off with a single to left field.
• In the ninth, the Bulldogs got an insurance run off the bat of Casale on a RBI-single to left center.
• Banks and Goldberg allowed a runner to second base only once.
• Adrian kept the pressure on the Cardinals defense all game long by having two runners on base with less than two outs in all but two innings.

TOP 'DAWGS

• Banks finished with nine strikeouts in seven innings of work. He allowed just two hits and a walk.
• Casale led the Adrian offense by going 3-for-4 with a double and two runs batted in, and junior Brandon Cooper also went 3-for-4 with a double in his season debut.
• Goldberg worked the final two innings of scoreless baseball without giving up a hit to earn his first career save.
• Wood and Richardson added two hits apiece.

THE OPPOSITION

• Colin Weilbache and Paul Beverly had a hit apiece for NCU.
• Luke Lamm, the third Cardinals pitcher, did not allow a run nor walk with two strikeouts in two innings.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Adrian moves to 5-1 all-time against North Central as the teams were meeting for the first time since March 18, 2018, when the Bulldogs edged the then-No. 4 ranked Cardinals 5-4 in Port Charlotte, Fla.
• The Bulldogs are 3-1 this season against the ABCA and D3baseball Top-25.
• The Cardinals are members of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin.
• Casale takes over the team lead with a .444 batting average.
• Banks is now 2-0 with a 1.23 earned-run average and 15 strikeouts in 14.2 innings over three appearances.

COMING UP NEXT

• Adrian will play non-conference foe Spalding at this same neutral site on Sunday here in Westfield, Ind. (Grand Park Sports Campus), starting at 4 p.m.