Adrian, Mich. – A three-inning first set the tone for DePauw as the Tigers opened NCAA Division III regional play with a 12-4 win over Adrian. The third-seed Tigers improved to 29-13, while the second-seed Bulldogs dropped to 31-11.
DePauw stays in the winner's bracket to face Webster tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. The Gorloks topped Wittenberg, 9-5, in today's first game. Adrian will take on Wittenberg tomorrow in an 11 a.m. elimination game.
The Tigers jumped out to an early lead as
Aidan Howard led off the game with a double and
Max Bond followed with a two-run homer down the left field line.
Louis Florida then added a two-out, solo shot down the right field line to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
Adrian came right back with a single run in the bottom of the first as Gabe Jones doubled with two outs and Christian Oliver followed with an RBI double off the wall in left to cut the deficit to 3-1.
Tyler Walkey singled with one out in the second and Howard delivered a run-scoring double to right center to make it 4-1.
Nolan Oesterling drew a walk in the fourth and stole second before Walkey drove him in with a single up the middle to extend the lead to 5-1. Howard walked and Walkey moved to third on a wild pitch before Bond was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Edward Bieniasz replaced Parker Faris on the mound and
Grady Johnson drove in Walkey with a single.
Zach O'Connell plated two with a single and Florida followed with a two-run double off the right field wall to extend the lead to 10-1.
Bryson Dorsey doubled with one out in the fifth and scored on Walkey's single to make it 11-1. Dorsey made it 12-1 with a leadoff homer in the seventh.
Adrian reached the board again in the seventh as Casey Finn led off with a double and came home on Jake Burns' single. Jake Boike's single moved Burns to third and Brendan Willadsen drove him in with a sacrifice fly.
Oliver's solo homer in the eighth wrapped up the scoring.
Florida and Walkey each had three of DePauw's 13 hits with Howard and Dorsey chipping in two each. Jones, Oliver, Burns and Boike each had two of Adrian's 11 hits.
Justin Benes improved to 7-2 with his second consecutive complete game. He struck out four and didn't walk a batter for the second straight game. Paris dropped to 8-2 and allowed eight runs after giving up just 13 in 47 2/3 innings this season.
