The Adrian College baseball team will battle at the Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield, Indiana. The Friday game will be against third-ranked North Central College (2-0 overall) at 2pm. On Sunday, the Bulldogs will take on Spalding University (5-2 overall) with the first-pitch being slated for 4pm
Weekend preview from Adrian College intern Michelle LaFranca:
Craig Rainey ’89 is in his 28th season as the head coach for Adrian College Baseball. He has 699 wins (against just 429 losses) at the school and for his NCAA career.
Adrian is the only Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association team representative in the D3baseball.com/National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top-25 poll. The Bulldogs just climbed two spots from the week 2 poll and their record is currently 2-1 against the top-25.
The Bulldogs have 40 runs and 57 hits (15 doubles, 1 triple, 6 home runs) thus far this season. As a team, Adrian has a .252 batting average, .342 on-base percentage and a .407 slugging percentage.
Senior shortstop Thomas Miller is the top hitter for the Bulldogs. He currently has seven runs, 10 hits, .536 slugging, and a .419 on-base percentage. Miller was named to D3baseball.com Team of the Week for March 2.
Fifth-year senior Gunner Rainey has eight hits this season and has moved past Brian Bilius (205, 2008-11) for third place on the school’s all-time list with 206 for his career.
The Bulldogs have their second-best start six games into the season since 2015 (also began 4-2). AC won seven of its first eight outings in 2019.
Fifth-year senior Tristin Richardson and sophomore Angel Gutierrez share the team lead with two home runs. The former also leads the squad with seven runs batted in; Miller has six.
Freshman Joe Casole has proved himself to be a strong hitter in his first season with the Bulldogs with a .357 average, .357 slugging and .526 on-base percentage.
Fifth-year senior Pierce Banks leads the AC pitching staff with a 1-0 record, 2.35 earned-run average and six strikeouts in 7.2 innings of work. His 227 career strikeouts also lists fourth on the school’s all-time charts.
Adrian holds a 4-1 all-time series lead against the NCC Cardinals, and won in their last outing 5-4 on March 18, 2018. The Bulldogs will be meeting Spalding out of the Saint Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for the first time.
Ed Mathey joined the North Central coaching staff in November 2014. He is the all-time winningest coach in program history, with a record of 363-244-2.
Junior Luke Lamm and senior Rob Marinec were named College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Players of the Week this week. This is the third CCIW Hitter of the Week award for Marinec and the first CCIW Pitcher of the Week award for Lamm.
Senior starting pitcher Charlie Klemm was just named to D3Baseball.com Team of the Week this week. The Cardinals are currently on a two-game win streak after winning their first two games of the season against Ripon College.
Coach Matt Downs is in his fifth season with Spalding University. Under his leadership, the team has had 110 wins, including back-to-back 30-win seasons and a SLIAC regular-season championship.
Grad student Eric Meyer and junior Michael Speck were just named to the D3Baseball.com Team of the Week. Sophomore Caleb Collins has earned Pitcher of the Week and Eric Meyer has earned Hitter of the Week for the SLIAC Weekly Awards.
Spalding currently has a .317 batting average and a .860 OPS. The Eagles currently have a 3.10 ERA. Spalding plays Wabash in a Friday doubleheader and then North Central before facing Adrian.
Adrian last played Piedmont where they had a series win, taking two of the three games throughout the weekend. Miller went 2-for-5 with three runs batted in. The Bulldogs outhit the Lions 10-5 and did not commit any errors.
Senior Jake Lemelin and Miller had a pair of two-run hits on a single and double, respectively. Gunner Rainey had his first home run of the season.
Freshman Luc St. Antoine made his first career start and was the first of seven AC pitchers on the day, getting credit for his first collegiate victory.
The Bulldogs are set to play a split-doubleheader on Saturday, March 20th, at Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield, Ind. The first game will begin at 11am against Kalamazoo, then take on Calvin at 2pm.
This article was written using a press release and information generated by Adrian College’s sports information department. It is nearly entirely a repost of the original press release. For more high school, college, and pro sports, follow us on Twitter @MWSNsports or like our page on Facebook.