MARIETTA, Ohio — Adrian College held off a late rally from Case Western Reserve to earn a spot in the Regional championship after posting a 9-8 win over the Spartans Saturday (May 20) evening.
 
"We came here to try and get to Sunday and have a chance to win. The guys stood up big today with two tough games. It was a fun day and the guys played really hard," Adrian head coach Craig Rainey. "We gave them a couple of chances and they got some big hits and we had to fight at the end to get the win. Our guys did a great job staying in it and competing to the last out."
 
Adrian improves to 27-20 overall and will need to beat Marietta twice on Sunday (May 21) to reach the Super Regionals. Case Western Reserve finishes the season with a 28-15 overall record.
 
The Bulldogs scored four runs in the first and third innings to take an 8-2 lead. Heading into the final three innings, Adrian was leading 9-3. But Case Western plated four runs in the seventh inning and one more in the ninth. The Spartans had the tying run at third base and winning run at second base when the game ended.
 
Lincoln Lipinski (4-2) started on the mound for Adrian and got the win after throwing 6.0 innings. He allowed four runs on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Michael Swanson was charged with three runs on two hits in two-thirds of an inning.
 
Ryan Davis took over in the seventh inning and recorded his sixth save of the season. Davis worked 2.1 innings and gave up one run on two hits with two walks and five strikeouts.
 
Kyle Gearding (5-4) started and took the loss for Case Western. He allowed four unearned runs on three hits in 1.0 inning. Six other pitchers toed the rubber for the Spartans.
 
Jakob Charles, Easton Rogers and Linken Hayward each had two hits in the game for Adrian. Jasiah Harris was the lone Spartan with two hits in the game.