For the Hillsdale College baseball team, Saturday and Sunday told polarizing stories.
The Chargers traveled to Lindenwood, Missouri, for four games against the Maryville Saints. The Chargers swept Saturday’s doubleheader — 3-2, 13-5 — but lost Sunday’s games — 2-0, 7-5 — snapping the team’s nine-game winning streak, and dropping the team to 11-4 on the season.
“Obviously we were disappointed with the losses on Sunday. You never want to lose,” head coach Eric Theisen said. “But the disappointment we find in a split shows a lot about this team. We expect ourselves to do better than a split, and that shows great advancement in the program as a whole.”
Before this disappointment, however, came a successful day on Saturday, which bumped the Chargers’ ranking from fifth to third in the Midwest — according to D-II Baseball News — which is the highest ranking of any GLIAC team.
Game one on Saturday was a low-scoring affair, headlined by a sensational performance by senior starter Jacob Gardner, who gave up one unearned run — in the first inning — on five hits over seven innings.
The Chargers responded to the Saints’ first inning run with a run-scoring double-steal in the top of the fourth inning, and RBIs from junior Ethan Wiskur and senior Joe Gentile in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively.
The bullpen stepped in after that, with senior Mitchell Gatt throwing a perfect eighth inning and senior Chris McDonald allowing one unearned run on one hit in the ninth on his way to his seventh save of the season, sealing the 3-2 victory.
“Those close games are fun, and you have to love playing in those,” Thiesen said. “Pressure is a privilege, and so it’s nice to be in those tight games.”
Hillsdale’s offense took over the back end of Saturday’s two-game set to ensure that it was not a tight game.
The Chargers plated two runs in the top of the first on a wild pitch and an RBI single by senior Tad Sobieszczanski. The Saints answered with five runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning, but it was all Hillsdale after that as the Chargers scored five more runs over the next three innings, including a two-run home run by senior Connor Bartlett in the fourth.
Sophomore starter Will Kruse settled in after the first inning, tossing all seven innings, allowing five runs — two earned — on four hits.
The largest blow from Hillsdale came in the top of the sixth inning when the Chargers pushed five runs across the plate, with RBIs coming from Bartlett, freshman Jacob Hoover, and senior Luke Ortel, who had four hits and three RBIs on the day.
Sobieszczanski explained that the offensive output has been coming from younger Chargers, in addition to the veterans, which has been key.
“I think as a team we keep improving each week,” he said. “We have had a lot of young guys step up and contribute this year, which is great to see.”
After the explosion on Saturday, the tides turned as the Charger offense quieted down on Sunday, and was completely inaudible in the first game on Sunday as Maryville senior starter Robbie Gordon struck out nine on his way to a seven-inning perfect game.
“You know, it took a perfect game to stop our streak, and sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the other team,” Thiesen said. “That kid was pretty darn good, and he had a great day.”
Hillsdale sophomore starter Phil Carey also put forth a great effort, allowing two earned on four hits over seven innings, but took a tough loss at the hands of Gordon.
“For the most part my pitches were going where they needed to go. I was trying to make guys roll over or hit for pop ups, and that’s what happened. I only had one strikeout, but the defense was there for me as usual,” said Carey. “It just so happens the other guy threw a perfect game.”
The Hillsdale offense became vocal once again in the first inning of game two on Sunday, scoring three runs — with RBIs from McDonald, Wiskur, and sophomore Alex Walts — before the Saints even came to the plate.
The Saints scored two runs in the bottom of each the first and third innings to grab the lead, chasing Hillsdale freshman starter Chris Stewart after four innings, in which he allowed four runs — three earned — on five hits.
The Saints stretched the lead to 6-3 in the bottom of the sixth before Hillsdale tacked on two of its own in the top of the seventh on a two-out, two-run double by McDonald.
Maryville scored one in the bottom half of the inning, and Hillsdale went scoreless in the ninth.
The team will play three games against Ohio Dominican on the road this weekend. Although Ohio Dominican is a GLIAC team, the games will not count towards either teams’ conference record.
Theisen explained that the game plan hasn’t changed just because they are now facing conference opponents.
“I know it is cliché, but we are just focusing on one game and one inning at a time. Whatever we have to do to win baseball games is what we will do.”
Sobieszczanski echoed this sentiment, and expressed the importance of moving on from the two tough losses.
“Coach reminded us that baseball is a humbling game and that Sunday’s games are behind us. The only game that matters is the next one and we’ll be ready for ODU this weekend.”
The Chargers will open conference play the following weekend when they travel to Wayne State for a four-game set against the Warriors.
