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ADRIAN, Mich.—Senior Dugan Darnell went 2-for-4 with three runs batted in and earned his sixth save of the season, and junior Brady Wood collected four hits, as top-seeded Adrian spotted Alma a 3-0 lead before coming back to win 7-5 over the Scots in the opening game of the 2019 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Baseball Tournament.
THE BASICS
= Final Scoreline: MIAA Tournament Game 1--Adrian College 7-13-0, Alma College 5-11-1
= Location: Location: Nicolay Field, Adrian, Mich.; Weather: Overcast, 54 degrees, Wind E 20 mph
= Records: Adrian Bulldogs 33-7 overall (24-4 MIAA); Alma Scots 18-23 overall (14-14 MIAA)
= National Rankings: Adrian is No. 14 by the American Baseball Coaches Association/Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (262 points) and No. 10 in the D3baseball.com/National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (350) poll; AC's NCAA Mideast Regional Ranking: No. 5.
TOP 'DAWGS
= Darnell had a double and pitched the final two scoreless innings to earn his fourth save in the past week. He had one strikeout while issuing no walks and no hits.
= Junior Gunner Rainey added two hits, two runs scored and a walk.
= Senior Jason Schroeder pitched 1.2 scoreless innings of relief to pick up the win (4-1). He allowed two hits and no walks with a strikeout.
THE OPPOSITION
= Max Trucks led the Scots offense by going 3-for-5 with a RBI.
= Noah Hamilton and Jaret Koin both collected two hits and a RBI. The latter had a double.
= Carter Sanderson hit the only home run of the day.
HOW IT HAPPENED
= Darnell hit a two-run double to left field in the bottom of the fifth inning to break a 3-3 deadlock and the Bulldogs never trailed after that. Rainey led off with a walk and Wood followed with a single to right to send Rainey to third base. After Wood stole second, Darnell laced a 2-ball, 1-strike pitch deep to left for the go-ahead runs.
= But Alma had an immediate response with two runs in its next half-inning to knot the contest 5-all. Hamilton hit a RBI-single through the left side to make it 5-4 and Koin lifted a sacrifice fly to center field.
= Adrian, however, went ahead to stay in the seventh when senior Chad Paddock delivered a RBI-double to left-center to plate classmate Jason Croci who had doubled.
= The Bulldogs added an insurance run in the eighth off the bat of Darnell, who singled home Rainey after he reached via a single and eventually advanced to third base on a fielding error by the left fielder.
= Alma built a 3-0 lead on a Zach Schirmer sacrifice fly to center field in the first, Max Trucks RBI single to right field in the third and Sanderson solo shot over the wall in left field in the fourth.
= That three-run cushion deflated for the Scots in the home fourth because the host Bulldogs scored three times to equal 3-3. Paddock had a RBI-single through the left side, sophomore Brandon Cooper hit a sacrifice fly to center and senior Zack Zschering doubled down the left field line to bring in another tally.
= The teams combined for 19 runners left on base, with Adrian leaving 11 and Alma, eight.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
= Adrian is now 19-4 lifetime in the conference tournament.
= The Bulldogs hold a commanding 109-82, including 62-45 at home and 2-1 against the Scots in the postseason.
= Darnell takes over the MIAA lead with six saves, which is one shy of the Adrian single-season record.
= Rainey widens his lead in the conference batting race to the tune of a .443 average; sophomore teammate Thomas Miller is No. 2 at .394.
= Darnell enters the top-5 for MIAA RBI with 42, a career best, which is tied for fourth.
= Rainey passes Dan Slagle (184 from 1997-2000) for sixth place on the all-time hits chart for Adrian with 185.
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UP NEXT
= Adrian will play in the winners' bracket for the second round scheduled for Thursday, playing either Albion or Hope at noon.
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