The baseball team won two out of three games against California, Pennsylvania, sweeping a doubleheader on Sunday, winning 7-1 and 4-1, but losing its Monday game 3-0. 

“We had a lot of good starting pitchers playing that helped us win,” senior Joe Hardenbergh said. “We would have liked to win all three, but there were a lot of good things this weekend.”

In the first game, senior Tommy MacLean pitched four innings, striking out two, walking one, and allowing one earned run. Junior Brandon Scott relieved MacLean and recorded his first career save, pitching three scoreless innings with one strikeout, two walks, and two hits conceded.

Freshman Rocco Tenuta hit a single to left field, allowing senior outfielder Danny Passinault to score. The Vulcans earned a run in the bottom of the third inning, but senior Jeff Landis hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning.

Hillsdale continued to shut out the Vulcans and scored  four more runs, including a solo home run from senior catcher Jaekob Sallee

“Jaekob Sallee got the G-MAC player that week with some huge hits, like his big home run in the second game that helped us win,” Hardenbergh said. “He really stood out and had a great weekend.”

Hardenbergh hit a two-run home run (his third this season), and freshman Tyler Turner scored when the Vulcans attempted to pick off freshman Aaron Jasiak at first base.

In the second Sunday game, freshman Will Millard hit a solo home run, Tenuta put a man on base, and Sallee hit his second home run of the day. Junior Zak Kent also made it home on a hit by Turner, causing Hillsdale to win 4-1 in the final inning. 

Hillsdale’s pitchers also performed well in the second game. Freshman Daniel Higdon went six innings with five strikeouts, two walks, and only five hits. Junior Devin Murray pitched two scoreless innings, and junior Andrew George struck out one and walked one in another. 

On Monday, Hillsdale’s defense kept the Vulcans to 3 runs but struggled to hit, losing 3-0. 

Senior pitcher Daly Skees led the defense, going five innings with two strikeouts, two walks, and only one run. 

“I had a pretty solid day but not as many strikeouts as I wanted,” Skees said. “My defense had a lot of pressure on them but they handled that very well. They did that pretty much all weekend. They play some really good defense behind us.”

Senior Drew Olssen also pitched two innings of scoreless, hitless relief for Hillsdale, and senior Chad Stevens struck out one batter in an inning of relief as well.

Despite the Monday loss, Skees said the team did well and will continue to improve.

“Our main focus is to make it to the G-MAC tournament, but I just take it day by day, game by game, practice, practice, just seeing what I need to do to get better,” Skees said. “Every day we head into practice to win the next match and to put ourselves in the best position to win that series or that game.” 

The Chargers will play again on Friday when they travel to play three Midwest Regional teams, Maryville University, McKendree University, and University of Missouri-St. Louis as they continue to prepare for G-MAC competition