ADRIAN, Mich.--The Adrian College baseball team defeated visiting Calvin College in Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association play on Friday evening, 7-0 and 8-3, giving head coach Craig Rainey wins No. 599 and 600 in his 24 seasons at the helm of the Bulldogs.
"I am proud for the program and all the players that have been a part of those wins. I have been very fortunate to have great assistant coaches and many outstanding players during this run," Rainey said about his victory milestone. "Adrian College has been great to me and our baseball program. I can't thank (Athletics Director) Mike Duffy and President (Dr. Jeffrey R.) Docking enough for allowing me to do something, I love. It's a GDTBAB."
THE BASICS
= Final Scorelines: Game 1--Adrian 7-8-0, Calvin 0-4-2; Game 2--Adrian 8-14-2, Calvin 3-4-1
= Location: Nicolay Field, Adrian, Mich.; Weather: Sunny, 49 degrees, Wind NNW 15-18 mph
= Records: Adrian Bulldogs 15-6 overall/9-1 MIAA; Calvin Knights 8-12 overall/4-6 MIAA
TOP 'DAWGS
= Senior Brian Killinger was 4-for-5 with five runs scored and four walks on the day.
= Classmate Ian Mikowski went 4-for-7 with two runs scored and a pair of walks in the doubleheader.
= Junior right-handed pitcher Tommy Parsons (5-1) threw his second complete-game shutout in a row by limiting the Knights to four hits and striking out five batters in Game 1.
= In the nightcap, freshman pitcher Pierce Banks (4-0) tossed a one-hitter and had a career-best eight strikeouts over seven innings. He allowed an unearned run and walked just one.
= Junior Hunter Hayes led all student-athletes with four runs batted in during the afternoon, while freshman Tristin Richardson added three.
THE OPPOSITION
= Johnny Salgado led Calvin with three hits and two RBI.
= Colton Wolfe, Mike Kempton, Mike Kempton and Kyle Houts chipped in a hit each today.
HOW IT HAPPENED, Game 1
= Adrian jumped out to a quick 2-0 start in the bottom of the first inning, as Killinger stole home and Hayes scored on a throwing error.
= After a RBI-single by Hayes in the third, the Bulldogs tacked on four runs in the fifth to ice the victory. The home team sent nine men to the plate as there was a walk, four hits and a hitbatsman. Hayes and Richardson both had RBI-doubles to highlight the frame.
= Calvin had its best scoring chance in the top of the third when Salgado singled to center field to lead off and Ryan Stewart hit by pitch after one out. Salgado reached third base on a wild pitch, but Parsons escaped the jam when he got MIAA home run leader Colton Wolfe to flyout to right field.
= The Knights also got two runners on base with less than two outs in the seventh, but Parsons induced a 4-6-3 double-play to end the contest.
HOW IT HAPPENED, Game 2
= Adrian pounded out 14 hits, including six in the decisive third inning, en route to the five-run margin.
= Freshman Gunner Rainey and Richardson both collected two hits and two RBI.
= The Bulldogs sent 10 men to the plate in the bottom of the third inning, scoring five runs for all the offense they would need. Senior Miccoy Drzewiecki sparked it with a leadoff opposite field home run to right.
= Banks was working on a no-hitter for 6-1/3 innings until Wolfe led off the seventh with a single through the right side. He would eventually come around to score on a Jonathan Keane sacrifice fly.
= Calvin got two runs after two outs in the ninth. Kempton had an infield single to second base and Keane followed with a walk. Salgado, the next batter, doubled to the wall in right center to plate Kempton and Keane. After a hit batter, the threat ended on a pop-up.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
= The Bulldogs are "receiving votes" (16 points) in the Week 6 D3baseball.com Top 25 poll. The team has won three of four games versus nationally-ranked competition so far this spring.
= Drzewiecki has a MIAA-second-leading four home runs for a career high.
= Game 1-winner Parsons allowed his first walk of the season over 44-1/3 innings in the seventh--to Keane with one out.
= Dorow saw his 19-game hitting streak snapped in the second game, as he finished 0-for-4. He flied out to deep center in the first and in the fifth lined out on a nifty double-play ball caught behind the second base bag after it deflected off the pitcher's glove.
= Parsons has held opponents scoreless for the last 20 innings. He has three shutouts this season to tie a school record accomplished four previous times.
= Wolfe tops the MIAA with five home runs.
= Rainey lists 29th on the active wins list and he becomes the 53rd coach in NCAA Division III history to reach 600 victories.
= Parsons and Banks now rank 1-2 in MIAA strikeouts (42 and 27) and wins (5 and 4).
UP NEXT
= These same two teams complete their four-game weekend series tomorrow in Grand Rapids at CC Knights Baseball Field, which is just northwest of the Huizenga Tennis and Track Center. The twinbill is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. (Audio l Video l Live stats), then followed immediately by Game 2 (Audio l Video l Live stats). View Calvin College's campus map.
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