The Hillsdale baseball team lost three out of four games against Northwood University April 3-6 before falling to Davenport University 16-11 April 8, moving its season record to 13-18 and its conference record to 8-8. 

After losing 8-4 in the first game of Friday’s doubleheader, the Chargers won the second game 7-1 behind five innings of one-run ball from junior Jacob Pallo.

The Chargers never trailed, as sophomore Gaard Swenson led off the game with a home run.  The Chargers scored another run in the second on a sacrifice fly from junior Aaron Jasiak. Two sacrifice flies from sophomore Jake Figman gave the Chargers a 4-0 lead going into the bottom of the fifth inning.

“In terms of the entire weekend, the offense was pretty good,” Swenson said. “Each game we were able to get the same amount of hits, or more, as Northwood. We will continue to work at hitting with runners in scoring position, but we did hit well overall.”

The Timberwolves got their lone run of the game on an RBI fielder’s choice in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Senior Patrick MacLean pitched a scoreless sixth and sophomore Josh Novak pitched a scoreless seventh to close out the game.

“Being able to get ahead in the count was huge,” Pallo said. “We made some great defensive plays, and we were able to put up a few runs early as well, which helped our whole team stay loose. When I was ahead in counts, I was able to get them to chase some pitches and get weak contact. Our relievers came in and kept their foot on the gas as well, which was awesome.” 

The Chargers lost both games on Monday, 8-3 and 9-5.

“Overall we didn’t play well,” head coach Tom Vessella said. “It took us a while to get going offensively and we didn’t have good starts on the mound. It’s very difficult to play from behind for a majority of the game, as when we start to fight back, we run out of time.”

Pallo said the team needs to take advantage of more scoring opportunities.

“We were within two runs in three of four games, but we struggled to score with runners in scoring position,” Pallo said. “We had many opportunities to add on but never got there. I think if we just execute a little bit better it will turn those close losses into wins. We all believe we can play much better than we have been.”

The Chargers will next face Lake Erie College for a four-game series in Painesville, Ohio April 11-12 before returning home to face Wayne State University April 14.