Adrian, MI – Adrian College baseball team hosted Hope College on Wednesday afternoon in the opening round of the MIAA Tournament, and defeated the Flying Dutchmen, 7-4. The 27th win of the season for the Bulldogs advanced them to the Winner’s Bracket.
Hope jumped on the board first in the top of the third on an inside the park home run after a collision between two Bulldog outfielders. Adrian responded in the bottom of the third sparked by an RBI triple from Nic Bruder, which was followed by a sacrifice fly from Ryan Davis to tie the game 2-2.
In the fourth inning, Bruder struck again on a 2-RBI single up the middle to lead 4-2. Miranda drove in a run on a single before David Kedrow followed with an RBI single of his own. Jack Boike drew a bases loaded walk to lead, 7-2.
The scoring went silent until the top of the Hope half of the ninth inning. After scoring the first run on an RBI single, Adrian turned a key double play. Another Hope run scored on the double play to make it 7-4. Luc St. Antoine was able to get the final out of the game, securing the Bulldog victory.
Miranda led the Bulldogs with three hits on the plate while Bruder and Joe Casale each recorded two. Adrian starting pitcher Jakob Charles took his start on the mound into the ninth inning. He completed eight innings where he allowed four runs on six hits with three strikeouts. Luc St. Antoine came on in the ninth to close out the game.
Adrian will face Kalamazoo College in the Winner’s Bracket Championship at Kalamazoo with a chance to go to the MIAA Tournament Championship. The first elimination game will take place between Hope and Alma College. MIAA Baseball Tournament information can be found here: https://www.miaa.org/sports/bsb/2023-24/releases/TournamentCentral