ADRIAN, Mich.-- Trine was swept by Adrian in an MIAA doubleheader Sunday afternoon at Nicolay Field.
One big inning led the Bulldogs to a 7-4 victory in game one, which they followed up with a 3-0 victory in a game two pitcher's duel. Zach Leach knocked in four runs to lead Adrian offensively. Tommy Parsons and Collin Korte combined on the shutout in game two. Zach Thorn (Portage, Ind./Portage) had three hits, all of which were doubles, and drove in two runs to lead Trine. The Thunder fell to 14-18 overall, 9-11 in the MIAA. Adrian is now 24-7 overall and 15-3 in conference play, having taken three of the four games in the series.
Game One: Adrian 7, Trine 4
The Bulldogs scored six times in the first and made that score hold up the rest of game one.
Adrian took advantage of an error and several miscues by the Thunder defense in the big first inning. Jeff Gertley and Micoy Drzewiecki got the Bulldogs on the board with RBI-singles. Leach struck the big blow of the inning with a three-run double to push the score to 5-0. He later came in to score on John Joseph's RBI-single.
Trine got on the board as a run scored on a double-play in the fourth. Dorow answered in the bottom half of the inning to keep the margin at six.
The Thunder pushed across three runs in the sixth. Singles by Drew Palmer (Hartford, Wisc./Hartford Union) and Jake LaBounty (Avon, Ind./Covenant Christian) put two on with one out. Ethan Kirkman (Oregon, Ohio/St. John's Jesuit) doubled in a run with a deep drive to left. Thorn later added a two-run double with two outs in the inning to cut the score to 7-4.
Jordan Frayer allowed no more however, as he retired Trine in order in the seventh. Frayer worked the complete game, allowing four earned runs on eight hits, walking one and striking out four.
Game Two: Adrian 3, Trine 0
Parsons and Korte combined on the shutout and the Bulldogs made the most of their scoring opportunities to get the sweep.
A two-out RBI-single by Leach gave Adrian a 1-0 lead in the fourth. The Bulldogs added two runs in the fifth on a balk with the bases loaded and a throwing error.
Ben Wheaton (Kalamazoo, Mich./Hackett Catholic Central) was solid in his first-career conference start. The freshman allowed one earned run on four hits over five innings, walked two and struck out one.
Parsons worked five innings to get the victory, surrendering four hits and striking out three. Korte earned the save with two innings of shutout work.
Trine opens a MIAA series at Calvin this Thursday, April 23. First pitch is slated for 2 p.m.