Game 1 box score: Walsh 12, Hillsdale 4
Game 2 box score: Hillsdale 8, Walsh 7
The Hillsdale College baseball team concluded its regular season with a four-game split with Walsh University, each team winning twice. But the season isn't over for either team.
The Chargers are advancing to the 2016 GLIAC Tournament as the #6 seed, and will face top-seeded Grand Valley State in the first round of the tournament Thursday in Xenia, Ohio at 2 p.m.
Hillsdale finished the season 18-14 in the GLIAC, while Walsh was 17-13. Even though the Cavaliers played two fewer games in conference, they got the No. 5 seed over Hillsdale based on a winning percentage that was .004 points better.
In Sunday's home finale, the Cavaliers hit the ball effectively in game one's 12-4 victory over the Chargers. The highlight for Hillsdale came in the third inning, when senior outfielder Luke Ortel set the GLIAC single-season hits record with a single to right-center. The old record was held by Grand Valley State's Cody Grice back in 2010.
Ortel got two more hits in the game two 8-7 win, giving him 103 with at least two games to play next week.
Junior Ethan Wiskur hit a solo home run in game one as part of a 3-for-3 game with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored.
In game two, Walsh jumped out to a 6-0 lead after 1 1/2 innings. It could have been much worse, were it not for a triple play. First baseman Chris McDonald caught a line drive, stepped on first base for the second force out, then threw to second base to complete the rarest defensive play in baseball.
The offense was able to take momentum from that play to claw its way back into it in the bottom of the second. Wiskur opened the inning with a double and later scored on a single by sophomore Alex Walts. Freshman Colin Boerst drove in his first run of the game on a fielder's choice, though it wouldn't be Boerst's last RBI of the game.
Boerst, a freshman infielder, blasted a grand slam home run in the bottom of the third, scoring Wiskur, Steven Ring and Walts that suddenly put Hillsdale on top 8-6. His first collegiate home run couldn't have come at a better time, within the game or within the season, for the Chargers.
Senior pitchers Jacob Gardner and Mitchell Gatt handled things from there, performing brilliantly on Senior Day. Gardner got the win, going 4 2/3 innings with one earned run allowed. Gatt got the save, tossing a perfect seventh inning.
Wiskur had his second straight three-hit game, scoring twice. Ortel was 2-for-4 with an RBI, and Ring was 2-for-2 with 2 runs scored. Boerst's 5 RBI are a career-high.
PHOTO CREDIT: Sarah Klopfer
UP NEXT: The Chargers face Grand Valley State in the first round of the GLIAC Tournament at 2:00 Thursday in Xenia, Ohio.