After a tough weekend hosting the first-place Ashland Eagles, the Hillsdale College baseball team traveled to Findlay last night, where they split a doubleheader with the Oilers.
Although the Chargers held an early lead in game one last night, they eventually took a tough 5-3 loss.
Hillsdale scored two in the top of the first inning thanks to RBIs from senior rightfielder Connor Bartlett and senior first baseman Chris McDonald.
Sophomore Alex Walts gave the Chargers an extra run in the top of the third with an RBI double.
Sophomore starter Phil Carey threw the first four innings without allowing a run. In the fifth, however, the Oilers were able to string together two hits, an error, and a sacrifice fly for three runs, tying the game 3-3.
After Hillsdale threatened in the top of the sixth — stranding a pair of runners — Findlay was able to take advantage in the bottom half of the inning with a two-out, two-run double to take a 5-3 lead which the Chargers couldn’t erase in the seventh.
In game two, the Chargers showed no shadow of what happened in game one as Hillsdale’s offense and pitching combined to end the week with a 14-6 win.
After the Chargers scored one run in the first and blanked in the second, they exploded for 12 runs over the next four innings and never looked back.
Junior starter Ethan Wiskur was excellent in his first start of the season, throwing 4 1/3 innings in which he allowed one unearned run on four hits.
Although nine Chargers notched hits — and five recorded RBIs — the most memorable hits came from senior center fielder Luke Ortel, who set both the Hillsdale single season and career hits records in the game.
“I am thankful that God has given me the opportunity and talents to play this awesome game,” Ortel said. “I am honored to be a part of Charger baseball history, but more importantly I’m thankful to contribute to the team in any way possible.”
The bullpen iced the victory, combining to throw 4 2/3 innings, including 2 2/3 perfect innings from sophomore Matt Young.
“After we lost the first one, the beautiful part about it was that we got to play another one right after it, and we were able to kind of redeem ourselves,” head coach Eric Theisen said.
Before the Wednesday split, Hillsdale dropped three-of-four to Ashland over the weekend. The Chargers did not allow the losing weekend to dampen their confidence.
“Three of the four games could have fallen our way this weekend,” senior leftfielder Tad Sobieszczanski said. “We wish we could have gotten at least two, but we are confident that if we see them again we will be ready.”
The series started out on a dramatic note when Ashland topped the Chargers 9-8 in the front-end of Saturday’s doubleheader.
Back-to-back solo home runs from Ortel and Sobieszczanski put the Chargers on the board early.
After a rough first two innings, sophomore starter Will Kruse took over, allowing six runs — four earned — on eight hits over six innings.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Chargers offense again showed their illustrious strength when Sobieszczanski, McDonald, and Wiskur hit back-to-back-to-back homeruns to give the Chargers a 7-6 lead.
The Eagles, however, refused to die, and retaliated with three runs in the top of the seventh inning, while Hillsdale was only able to muster one in their half, sealing the game for Ashland.
Hillsdale put the tough loss behind them, winning the second game of the day 9-6.
The game was scoreless for the first two innings before both teams collected one run in the third inning, with Ortel recording an RBI for the Chargers.
The freshmen got in on the long-ball action in the bottom of the fourth when catcher Steven Ring and third baseman Cam Maxwell both put one over the fence to give the Chargers a 4-1 lead.
Ashland scored two in the top of the fifth on a homer of its own, but Wiskur got one back for Hillsdale on an RBI single in the bottom half.
After the Eagles tied the game with two runs in the top of the seventh inning, Maxwell and senior shortstop Michael O’Sullivan struck back, both recording a two-RBI base hits.
The bullpen took over for senior starter Jacob Gardner — 6 2/3 IP, 5 ER, 10 H — with seniors Lucas Hamelink, Evan Chalker, and Mitchell Gatt combining for 2 1/3 innings, allowing only one earned run to clinch the Charger victory.
Sunday saw a large-home crowd for the Chargers, but the offense fell flat in game one, mustering only two hits in the 7-0 loss — only the second time Hillsdale has been shutout on the season.
Freshman starter Chris Stewart tossed a complete game seven innings, allowing seven runs — four earned — on 11 hits.
Hillsdale found their bats in Sunday’s second game, but dropped a 16-11 barnburner.
The game was a back and forth affair, with four lead changes in the first five innings.
The Chargers started strong, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning, with RBIs from McDonald, Wiskur, and Maxwell.
The final lead change of the game came in the top of fifth inning when the Eagles sent 11 batters to the plate for seven runs, giving Ashland a 13-9 lead.
“We were disappointed to not at least split that series,” Theisen said. “What we talked about after that series is that we’re going to get another shot at Ashland when it really counts come tournament time.”
The Chargers will host the Saginaw Valley Cardinals (8-10) for a crucial four-game set this weekend before Northwood (7-9) travels to Hillsdale for a doubleheader next Wednesday.
“It’s a big weekend coming up, but we’re excited about it,” Theisen said. “We’re excited to get back home, and it’s business as usual and we’re trying to keep improving so that we’re playing our best baseball come tournament time.”