Adrian College baseball ready for first Super Regional series

ASHLAND, Va. — Times have changed in the short amount of time it's been since the Adrian College baseball team won a regional title.

Back in 2021 and in 2008, the regional title granted a one-way ticket to the NCAA Division III College World Series, but the format changed in 2022. Instead of eight big regionals, the last two seasons have been broken into 16 regionals with the 16 champions playing in best 2-of-3 series Super Regionals to get into the College World Series.

Friday and Saturday will be the Bulldogs' first time playing in the Super Regional as they'll visit Randolph Macon.

Here's a breakdown of Adrian's matchup with the Yellow Jackets:

Program history

While the Bulldogs are new to the Super Regional, they aren't new to the moment. Back in 2021 at Wisconsin Whitewater, they needed to battle through the bracket and win on the road to punch their ticket to their second College World Series.

Coach Craig Rainey is in his 31st season leading Adrian with a record of 812-492, 14 MIAA regular season titles, 16 NCAA tournament appearance and two trips to the College World Series.

Adrian has won 10 of its last 11 games, including six-straight since the postseason has begun.

The Yellow Jackets haven't been to the College World Series since 2018 when they were a semifinalist. They've been in the NCAA tournament eight times, seven under head coach Ray Hedrick, who has been at the helm since 2005 and has won seven ODAC titles.

Randolph Macon was knocked out of the ODAC tournament in the second weekend, but earned an at-large bid into the tournament and went 3-0 at the Penn State Harrisburg regional.

Hitting

The two teams are nearly identical at the plate.

The Yellow Jackets are 97th in the nation in batting average at .307, 121st in slugging at .438 and 83rd in on-base percentage at .414. The Bulldogs are 74th in batting average at .313, 126th in slugging at .434 and 52nd in on-base percentage at .420.

Adrian starts two seniors and one graduate in left fielder Easton Rogers, designated hitter Edward Wagner and first baseman AJ Miranda. Shortstop Nic Bruder and second baseman Rolando Jimenez are both freshmen, centerfielder Jack Boike is a sophomore and catcher David Kedrow, third baseman Ryan Davis and right fielder Joe Casale are all juniors.

The Yellow Jackets start three freshmen, including Zach Wernoski, the team's top hitter. Wernoski hits .383 and have two others who hit above .300. The Bulldogs have six who hit above .300 including a standout freshman of their own in Bruder who hits .403.

Pitching

Adrian's pitching has been some of the best in the nation, ranking 16th in ERA at 3.78 while Randolph Macon is 46th at 4.42.

The Bulldogs boast starting depth with three regular starters with sophomores Jakob Charles (9-1, 3.58 ERA) and Jaxon Clark (7-3, 3.46 ERA) along with junior Daniel Gutierrez (4-2, 4.86 ERA).

Adrian has also used five other pitchers in at least 12 games.

Randolph Macon has two regular starters in junior Bere Bauers (4-3, 3.25 ERA) and senior Drew Ramos (8-2, 4.75 ERA). The Yellow Jackets are deep in the bullpen with 10 pitchers who have made at least 12 appearances.

Series matchups

Game 1 of the series is at noon Friday while Game 2 is at 11 a.m. Saturday with Game 3 being played at 3 p.m. on Saturday if necessary.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Adrian College and Randolph Macon set for Super Regional