Box Score

Adrian College finally avoided extra innings but just barely.

The Bulldogs, who had gone 14 and then 12 innings in their first two games at the finals of the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship, held off a ninth-inning rally by Linfield College to post a 3-2 victory in an elimination game on Saturday.

Adrian (36-12) advances to play the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (41-9) at noon on Monday in an elimination game. Linfield ends the season with a 35-13 record.

“This is kind of a dream right now,” Adrian head coach Craig Rainey said.

“Being the first (Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) school to get here we didn’t know what to expect. … It’s been an awesome experience for us.”

Adrian grabbed a 3-2 lead in the sixth after Nate Sarkissian led off the inning with a single.

Sarkissian went to second on a passed ball and tagged up and advanced to third after Linfield left fielder Cory Ellis made a spectacular sliding catch in the corner. Sarkissian then scored on Steve Vanderheyden’s double.

“Steve’s been a clutch hitter for us,” Rainey said. “He got a fastball up, and I know it was a pitch he was looking for.”

Pinch-hitter Brian Kerr got Linfield going in the top of the ninth with a single. Jordan Boustead followed with a single to put runners at first and third. After Ellis popped up a bunt for the second out, Boustead stole second.

Dustin Smith then dropped down a bunt toward third base and reached on the play. Kerr didn’t run on the play and it left the bases loaded. David Bachofner then flied out to end the game.

“We just didn’t execute. Those are the types of plays that we’ve used all year long,” Linfield head coach Scott Brosius said.

“We’re all hurting right now. I think our expectations coming into this thing we felt we had the type of team to make a run in this tournament. We’re all feeling the hurt right now at being out of this thing.”

Rainey said they were playing back on the infield hoping to avoid an extra-base hit that would put Linfield ahead.

“That’s a situation, especially in this type of ballgame, that can explode on you, and I thought we did a good job of controlling that last situation,” Rainey said.

“In baseball you’ve got to play the odds. We played the odds that if they bunted we would move on to the next hitter with bases loaded.”

Linfield took a 1-0 lead in the first after Bachofner started the rally with a two-out single. He went to third on a throwing error and scored on Stew Davis’ single.

Adrian came right back to take the lead in the bottom of the first.

Sarkissian reached on an error and then scored on Alex Cowart’s triple to tie the game at 1-1. Bobby Rickstad’s sacrifice fly then scored Cowart to put the Bulldogs up 2-1.

It stayed that way until the fifth when Linfield tied the game at 2-2. Mills led off with a single and sent to second on a sacrifice bunt. He then scored on Boustead’s single. The Bulldogs avoided further damage by getting a fly out and ground out to end the inning.

Adrian got a complete-game pitching performance from Nick Sarkissian. He struck out six and didn’t walk a batter while allowing 12 hits.

“They didn’t get that many timely hits and that kept them off the board,” Nick Sarkissian said. “I just tried to hit my spots. If they got a hit, they got a hit. I was just trying to keep the ball down.”

Linfield had runners on in every inning and stranded 10 in the contest.