ADRIAN, Mich. – The Trine University baseball team defeated Adrian in a road game on Wednesday afternoon 11-5. It is the first win over their Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) rival since 2015.
The Thunder (10-13, 5-3 MIAA) used 14 hits and three strong innings of relief work by Jeff Ballard [Munster, Ind. / Munster] to upend the Bulldogs (11-10, 3-2 MIAA).
Adrian started the game up 3-0 after sending eight to the plate in the first inning. Starting pitcher Cam Nagel [Munster, Ind. / Munster] settled in nicely after a shaky frame and went 1-2-3 in the second and third innings.
Trine was able to cut into the deficit in the top of the third by scoring two runs on three hits. Quin Fauquher [Muncie, Ind. / Yorktown] led off the inning with a single to right, but the next two batters would be retired. Adam Stefanelli [Westerville, Ohio / Westerville North], Brenden Warner [Richland, Mich. / Hackett Catholic Prep] and Dalton Nikirk [Bedford, Ind. / Bedford North Lawrence] each reached with two away, including a two-run single to left by Nikirk.
The same trio would tie the game in the fifth as Stefanelli singled, Warner walked and Nikirk drove in a third run with a single into centerfield. Avery Fulford [Conifer, Colo. / Conifer] would score Warner later in the inning via sacrifice fly to give Trine a 4-3 edge.
A crooked number in the sixth put the Thunder in firm control of the game. A four-spot went on the board following a pair of errors, a Jack Kletzly [Lebanon, Ohio / Lebanon] two-run single, and hits by Stefanelli and Jackson O'Keefe [Saline, Mich. / Saline / Owens CC]. The home team countered with two runs of their own, but Trine remained in front 8-5 at the end of the inning.
Matthew Martin [Eureka, Ill. / Eureka] added on with an RBI single in the seventh and Stefanelli continued to do damage at the dish with a two-run homerun to left that gave the Thunder an 11-5 lead.
The two runs in the sixth for the Bulldogs chased Nagel from the game, but that's when Ballard entered from the bullpen and shut down the potent Adrian lineup. Nagel finished with six innings and six strikeouts while getting the win (2-0), but the biggest key was eating innings with rain outs and makeup games causing stress on the bullpen.
The left-hander Ballard worked around a walk and a triple in the seventh (his only hit allowed), and retired the final six batters of the game to accumulate the long save, his first of the season.
In the batter's box, Stefanelli was 3-for-4 with a homerun, two RBIs, three runs scored and two base on balls. Martin was a perfect 3-for-3 at the dish. Nikirk drove in a team-high three runs and stole two bases in the victory.
The Thunder play host to the Alma College Scots on Friday, April 15 at 3 pm for game one of a three-game set.