The Hillsdale College baseball team fought through inclement weather this past week to take three games of their four game series with the Tiffin Dragons in Tiffin, Ohio.
Hillsdale is now ranked fourth in the Midwest, according to D-II Baseball News, the highest of any GLIAC team.
The series started Saturday afternoon, while tormented by snow and hail. Both offenses took advantage of a strong wind, quickly turning the game into a barnburner as the Dragons topped the Chargers 26-10.
“The only thing that makes playing in that weather worth it is if you get a win,” head coach Eric Theisen said. “It’s always a day you want to forget when you don’t come out on top.”
After the Chargers cut the Tiffin lead to 6-3 in the top of the fourth, the Dragons exploded for 20 runs over the next two innings, burning through five Hillsdale pitchers.
Despite the big loss, there was some upside for the Chargers.
Senior centerfielder Luke Ortel continued his season-long tear, recording three hits — two of which were home runs — and four RBIs.
Six other Chargers had hits in the game, and five added at least one RBI to their season total.
Theisen credited the Chargers’ ability to move past the loss and focus their attention on the remaining games.
“After that game it was just, ‘That game is that game. We’re past it.’ We didn’t really mention it,” Theisen said. “The guys did a good job of not carrying that over, and they have been doing a good job of that all year long.”
The team had a little extra time to put the loss behind them, as Saturday’s second game was postponed due to weather.
When the Chargers showed up to Heminger Field on Sunday, they showed no shadow of Saturday’s loss, tallying a 17-5 victory.
Hillsdale took an early lead on a two-run home run from senior third baseman Chris McDonald in the top of the first inning.
The Dragons tied the game with two runs of their own in the second, but an RBI single by senior shortstop Michael O’Sullivan in the fourth inning gave the Chargers the lead for good.
Hillsdale would tack onto the lead with seven runs in the both the fifth and seventh innings, with nine separate Chargers knocking hits in the effort, while eight recorded RBIs.
Sophomore starter Will Kruse recorded the win — pushing him to 4-3 on the season — after striking out five, while allowing five runs — four earned — on eight hits over a complete-game seven innings.
Kruse’s performance was especially important, because the team had been forced to use so much of its bullpen on Saturday, Theisen said.
The two teams played the first six innings of game three on Sunday, but were forced to suspend the game — due to darkness — until Tuesday afternoon, where the Chargers would eventually secure a 15-9 victory.
The start of game three saw both offenses off to quick starts, and Hillsdale held a 9-7 lead after two innings of play.
Both McDonald and senior leftfielder Tad Sobieszczanski homered in the first inning, while sophomore second baseman Alex Walts, freshman catcher Steven Ring, and senior designated hitter Joe Gentile all recorded at least one RBI in either the first or second innings.
The Chargers continued to pad their lead, with homeruns from both O’Sullivan and Gentile — the first of his collegiate career — in the fourth and sixth innings respectively.
Gentile said in his head he was “doing cartwheels,” although he simply jogged the basses with a smile. When he returned to the dugout, he was given the “silent treatment” for a few seconds, before the team erupted around him, showing the tight camaraderie of this team.
“We love to heckle each other, and I definitely got my fair share,” Gentile said. “But it was an awesome feeling to know that my baseball family was possibly more excited for me than I was.”
The bullpen took over for sophomore starter Phil Carer in the fifth inning, and it was dominating. Freshman Chris Stewart threw the final two innings for Hillsdale — allowing no runs on one hit — before the game was suspended until Tuesday.
Though the team admitted resuming a suspended game can be awkward, there was also a general agreement that it has to be viewed as any other game.
After the Dragons scored one in the bottom of the seventh, senior reliever Mitchell Gatt shut the door, throwing 1 2/3 innings, allowing no runs on one hit, finalizing the 15-9 victory.
The final game of the series was the pitcher’s duel that didn’t belong, marking the only game in the series in which the combined score failed to reach 20. In fact, the combined score reached only a quarter of that, with the Chargers pulling out a 3-2 nailbiter.
Stewart was phenomenal, allowing two runs — one earned — on three hits over seven innings while striking out six.
Stewart said that although he made some good pitches when needed, he really credits the defense behind him, as well as a strong performance from Gentile — who was catching — with the win.
The game was knotted 1-1 at the end of seven. With two outs in the top of the eighth and the bases loaded — following a double by Walts, a single by Gentile, and a walk by freshman infielder Jacob Hoover — Ortel broke the tie with a two-run single.
Ortel credited his teammates for putting him in the position, citing Hoover’s two-out walk, and said he was glad that he could come through in crunch time.
“It felt great to come up with a clutch hit to help us to another Charger victory,” he said.
After an error in the bottom half of the inning, McDonald took over for Stewart, throwing two innings to record his 10th save of the season, which put him in a three-way tie for first in the nation in the stat.
The series moves the Chargers to 5-3 in the GLIAC, as they look forward to their home opener this weekend when they will host the Northwood Timberwolves for doubleheaders on both Saturday and Sunday.
“We’re all excited to get off the road and get back on campus, play in front of our home crowd, and sleep in our own beds,” Theisen said. “We’re ready for a homestand.”
