ANGOLA, Ind.-- After dropping game one, the Trine baseball team rallied back for a walk-off victory in game two to split a doubleheader with MIAA-leading Adrian Saturday afternoon at Jannen Field.
Jordan Baer (Fort Wayne, Ind./Leo) plated the winning run with an infield grounder, as Ethan Prebynski (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) slid in just ahead of the throw in the 3-2 game two victory. The Bulldogs took game one, 5-2. Drew Shutes, Ryan Dorow and Jeff Gertley each homered for Adrian. Jacob Thoma (Granger, Ind./Penn) pitched a complete game to earn the victory in game two. The Thunder are now 14-16 overall, 9-9 in the MIAA. The Bulldogs are 22-7 overall, 15-3 in conference play.
Game One: Adrian 5, Trine 2
Eric Schmidt tossed a complete game and the Bulldogs hit two home runs to pace the offense.
Adrian wasted no time getting on the board as Shutes hit a solo homer with one out in the first to get the Bulldogs on the board. Gertley later added an RBI-single to make the score 2-0. Adrian snapped Trine pitcher Andy Farrell's scoreless streak in conference games at 17.2 innings. The sophomore had thrown two-hit shutouts in each of his last two MIAA starts.
Dorow hit a solo home run in the third and McCoy Drzewiecki added a two-run double in the fifth for the rest of the Bulldogs' scoring.
Jake Kendall (New Castle, Ind./New Castle) hit a two-run single in the fifth to account for Trine's runs.
Ethan Schmidt worked the complete game to earn the victory for Adrian. Schmidt allowed two earned runs on seven hits, walked one and struck out three.
Game Two: Trine 3, Adrian 2
The Bulldogs scored two late runs to take the lead, but the Thunder had the answer in the bottom half of the inning to earn the victory.
Prebynski drew a leadoff walk in the first and advanced to second on a sac bunt by Kendall. A groundout from Baer moved Prebynski to third. Drew Palmer (Hartford, Wisc./Hartford Union) then legged out a single as Prebynski scored to put Trine up 1-0.
That was all the scoring the game would see until the seventh, when Adrian rallied to take the lead. Dorow reached base on a single, before Gertley homered to right to put the Bulldogs up 2-1.
A one-out, pinch-hit double by Robert Ross (Valparaiso, Ind./Washington Township) put the Thunder in business in the bottom of the seventh. Pinch-hitter Zach Thorn (Portage, Ind./Portage) came in to score on a single by Prebynski, with a throwing error moving Prebynski into scoring position.
Kendall was then intentionally walked, before a wild pitch put runners on second and third with one out. Baer then hit a ground ball to second, as Prebynski took off from third with a great jump and beat the throw to give Trine the 3-2 victory.
Thoma earned the victory with his second-consecutive complete game. The freshman needed just 65 pitches to get through seven, as he allowed two earned runs on four hits, did not walk a batter and struck out four. Thoma is now 2-1 on the season.
The two teams conclude their MIAA series with a doubleheader tomorrow at Adrian. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.