SATURDAY RECAP
The Hillsdale College baseball team split its Saturday doubleheader with the University of Findlay, using the long ball to win game one 6-2 before being shut out in an 8-0 loss in the nightcap.
Hillsdale is now 13-26 overall and 11-13 in conference play after losing the weekend series to the Oilers. The team plays a non-conference game at Eastern Michigan University Tuesday before returning home to take on Saginaw Valley State in a key conference doubleheader Wednesday.
In the game one win Saturday, the long ball got dialed up for Hillsdale. Sophomore Tad Sobieszczanski was the first to send one out, launching a long two-run shot that scored Nolan Breymaier to spring Hillsdale to a 2-0 first-inning lead.
The Oilers, who rallied from two four-run deficits Friday, cut the lead in half in the top of the fifth, making it a 2-1 game. But junior Vinny Delicata ensured there would be no such comebacks in this one.
Delicata hit the sweet spot with a three-run home run that brought home Nolan Nunez and Lincoln Reed, restoring Hillsdale's lead to 5-1. It was Delicata's second career round-tripper.
Freshman pitcher Jake Lee picked up his fourth win of the season, going all seven innings on the mound. He hit 89 mph on a radar gun, and kept the Oilers off-balance for the most part all game long. He didn't walk a batter and struck out two in an effective performance.
Sobieszczanski was 2-for-3 with two runs scored in the opener for Hillsdale.
In game two, Findlay pitcher Derek Draper quieted the Charger bats with a terrific performance. He threw 70 of 99 pitches for strikes, scattered six hits, struck out eight and didn't walk a batter.
The Oilers scored six times in the third inning to take a big early lead in the second game.
Sobieszczanski and sophomore Connor Bartlett each had two hits in the loss for the Chargers.
FRIDAY RECAP
The Charger baseball team suffered an excruciating loss Friday afternoon to the University of Findlay, 13-9 in an 11-inning marathon in the opening contest of a three-game weekend series at Hillsdale College.
Hillsdale played extremely well at times, holding leads of 5-1 and 8-4 until the Oilers stepped up with some clutch play late in the game. Findlay countered a three-run seventh by the Chargers with a four-spot in the eighth inning to tie the game at 8 apiece. The teams were scoreless in the ninth and 10th innings until the visitors broke through with a five-run 11th inning.
Oiler pitcher Alex Williams was very impressive in relief, picking up the win. He threw more than 100 pitches, an extremely rare feat for a non-starter. He tossed 4 2/3 innings, giving up six hits, but just one run, a harmless tally in the bottom of the 11th. He worked out of jams in the ninth and 10th innings, stranding Charger runners on third base with less than two outs. Although he walked four batters, he struck out five.
Sophomore Luke Ortel (pictured) generated a season-high four hits, including two doubles, and scored two runs with another batted in. Sophomore Chris McDonald also had a big day at the plate, going 2-for-6 with a career-high four RBI.
Sophomore Tad Sobeiszczanski also had a powerful day at the plate, going 3-for-5 with two runs batted in. The top five batters in Hillsdale's batting order had 12 of the team's 14 hits in the contest.