It was a sweet sweep for the Charger baseball team.
Less than 24 hours after losing to NAIA Lourdes College, the Hillsdale College baseball team gained a valuable sweep of Northwood University Wednesday afternoon in Midland by scores of 7-2 and 5-2.
The wins improve Hillsdale to 11-21 overall and 9-8 in the GLIAC. The team will remain on the road this weekend, facing Wayne State University in a three-game series in Detroit.
In the first game, the Chargers stood one strike away from another frustrating one-run loss. Freshman Ethan Wiskur stepped up in the clutch with a single to center that scored pinch-runner Vinny Delicata, tying the game up at 2 after Northwood scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to take a 2-1 lead.
The floodgates opened from there. Jake Lee singled and Luke Ortel was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Two passed ball and a Nolan Breymaier two-run single later, and the Chargers suddenly had a 6-2 lead. Joe Gentile drew a bases-loaded walk to finish off the huge inning for Hillsdale.
Sophomore pitcher Chris McDonald turned in a strong start in picking up the victory. He tossed six innings without walking a batter. He fanned four and allowed two earned runs in the win. Junior Dan Pochmara finished off the game in a non-save situation.
Breymaier (pictured) was 2-for-4 with 2 RBI. Connor Bartlett had a hit, a stolen base and a run batted in for the Chargers.
McDonald stepped up in game two with a terrific performance at the plate. He went 2-for-2 with 3 RBI, and each one of them were in clutch situations. He lined a double down the left field line to bring home two runs, increasing Hillsdale's lead to 3-0 in the fourth inning. In his next at bat, he sent a two-out single up the middle to score sophomore teammate Lincoln Reed with what would turn out to be a big run.
Northwood scored one in the seventh inning and had the bases loaded with one out and the potential game-winning run at the plate. But Pochmara would not lose this battle, striking out the final two Timberwolves' batters of the day to preserve the victory.
Ortel was 1-for-3 and drove in the Chargers' first run of the game. Sophomore Tad Sobieszczanski had a double and a run scored, while Breymaier had a single and a run scored for Hillsdale.
Wiskur gave the Chargers their second quality start on the mound of the day, going six innings with no earned runs allowed and one strikeout. He faced just five batters above the minimum in a terrific outing for the Chargers.