2016 NCAA Division II Baseball Tournament Bracket
2016 NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Tournament Webpage
The clock isn't done ticking yet.
For the first time ever, the Hillsdale College baseball team will be playing in the NCAA Division II Tournament. The Chargers earned an at-large bid to the tournament and are the No. 7 seed in the Midwest Region. Hillsdale faces GLIAC champion and No. 2 seed Grand Valley State in the first round of the tournament.
First-round games will be played at Quincy, Illinois on Thursday, May 19. The Chargers and Lakers will square off at 5:00 p.m. local time, 6:00 p.m. Eastern. The Midwest Region Tournament is similar to the GLIAC Tournament in that it has a double elimination format.
If Hillsdale wins Thursday against the Lakers, it faces the winner of the Ashland-Indianapolis game on Friday, May 20 at 8:30 p.m. If the Chargers lose their first-round game, they play the loser of that same Ashland-Indianapolis game in an elimination game at 1:30 p.m. Friday, May 20.
The full Division II bracket can be viewed in the link at the top of this release. Other first-round matchups are No. 1 Quincy vs. No. 8 Alderson-Broaddus, and No. 4 Southern Indiana vs. No. 5 Missouri S&T.
The Chargers, 32-22 on the season, got into the tournament based on a strong strength-of-schedule rating, which included wins over G-MAC champion Alderson-Broaddus. Hillsdale's GLIAC Tournament win over Ashland on Friday was also likely a key factor in the team qualifying for regionals. The team's 32 wins are its most-ever in a season, and those 32 wins came thanks to some record-breaking performances by several individuals as well as the entire team.
The Chargers' success begins with their offense. The team clubbed a GLIAC-record 66 home runs so far through the season. Four players have 11 or more home runs, indicating the tremendous offensive balance the team has, to go along with its off-the-charts productivity.
Senior Luke Ortel, the GLIAC Player of the Year, set GLIAC single-season records for total hits (110) and at bats (234) during his amazing season. He leads a group of 11 seniors who have all contributed in big ways to the team's resounding success all season, and who missed graduation during the team's run through the GLIAC Tournament.
But ask any of those seniors - any of the players - on this special team, and they'd all say there's no place on earth they'd rather be that on that diamond, playing together a few more times. They'll get their chance this week.