SUNDAY RECAP
Game 1 box score: Hillsdale 12, Urbana 10
Game 2 box score: Hillsdale 13, Urbana 2
The Charger bats exploded for 26 runs and 27 hits in a sweep of Urbana University Sunday afternoon in Owensboro, Kentucky.
Game 1 saw Hillsdale take a big lead before a late Blue Knight comeback made the final score closer. Game 2 was called on account of darkness in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Chargers are on a seven-game winning streak and are 9-2 overall on the season, the best start in program history.
Urbana took a 3-0 lead in the first inning of game 1, but that didn't bother this Hillsdale team at all. The Chargers scored two in the second and three in both the third and fourth innings to take command.
Senior Luke Ortel had a monster day Sunday, going 5-for-8 with 6 RBI combined in the two games. Junior Ethan Wiskur was 2-for-3 with 2 runs scored in the opener, and senior Tad Sobieszczanski went 3-for-4 with 2 runs scored and a run batted in. Bartlett was 2-for-2 with 2 RBI. The Chargers were able to withstand a late surge by the Blue Knights. Urbana scored three in the sixth and four in the seventh until senior Chris McDonald came on to record his sixth save of the season. Hillsdale's single-season record for saves is seven.
Game 2 was no contest, as Hillsdale held a 5-0 lead through three innings and never looked back. Wiskur crushed a two-run home run, and Ortel had two doubles and a triple to spark the Charger offense. Freshman Steven Ring had a double, drove in two and scored twice while McDonald was 2-gfor-4 with 2 runs scored.
Freshman southpaw Jonathan Lapshan got his first career win, going 4 1/3 innings with five strikeouts.
SATURDAY RECAP
Game 1 box score: Hillsdale 12, Kentucky Wesleyan 7
Game 2 box score: Hillsdale 4, Kentucky Wesleyan 2
In the opener, sophomore Alex Walts had a career-high three hits, driving in two and scoring twice, while Ortel went 3-for-5 with a triple. Bartlett and O'Sullivan each had two hits and Joe Gentile scored twice.
After falling behind 2-0 in the first inning, the Chargers scored three in the second to take a 3-2 lead. KWC responded by taking a 4-3 lead in the third, with the game eventually going to extra innings. Wiskur's two-run single ignited a five-run eighth inning that clinched the win for Hillsdale.
In the second game, sophomore pitcher Will Kruse picked up his second win of the season, tossing six solid innings with six strikeouts and two earned runs allowed.
Offensively, Ortel had two more hits, with a double and a run scored, while McDonald was 2-for-3 and Bartlett 2-for-4.