Game 1 box score: Hillsdale 15, Alderson Broaddus 1
Game 2 box score: Hillsdale 5, Alderson Broaddus 2
No Division II college baseball team had played a home game in the state of Michigan before Hillsdale College did Saturday afternoon. Despite the cold temperatures, the Chargers made it a fun day for their fans in a doubleheader sweep of Alderson Broaddus University, their first-ever games in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
The Chargers posted wins of 15-1 and 5-2 over the Battlers, improving to 5-13 overall and 2-0 in the G-MAC. Hillsdale returns home Sunday to host another conference foe from West Virginia, Davis & Elkins starting at 1:00.
Seven different players had multi-hit games in the opener, which saw the Chargers bang out a season-high 22 hits. A familiar face led the way with another signature performance.
Junior Steven Ring blasted two home runs as part of a 5-for-5 game to lead the Hillsdale offense. He scored four runs, hit a double, and in one game, raised his season batting average 63 points.
Another player, freshman James Krick, had a spectacular home debut to his career, going 4-for-4 with two doubles and a home run, driving in four while scoring three times. It was the kind of stat line that's typically rare for players, but is one to remember for Krick, a player sure to provide great memories for Charger fans in the years to come.
Hillsdale scored at least one run in each of the first four innings of the game, racing out to a 9-0 lead after four. That was more than enough offense for senior pitcher WIll Kruse, who shut down the Battlers in a terrific outing on the mound.
Kruse struck out six batters and didn't allow a walk in seven masterful innings on the hill. He threw 77 strikes out of his 100 total pitches, an outstanding ratio. Matt Young came on in relief, throwing two shutout innings.
Game two was much tighter, with the Battlers trailing 3-2 with the bases loaded in the top of the sixth inning with no outs. That opened up an opportunity for another Charger freshman to shine.
Pitcher David Toth worked his way out of that jam, forcing a fielder's choice, getting a strikeout, then forcing a harmless infield pop fly to keep Hillsdale in the lead.
Alderson Broaddus fought back again in the seventh, loading up the bases before Toth worked his way out of that spot as well. He picked up his first save thanks to his relief work.
Senior Phil Carey was Hillsdale's winning pitcher. He went five innings with three strikeouts and one earned run allowed.
Hillsdale got two huge insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth thanks to two bases-loaded walks, drawn by Coilin Boerst and Alex Walts to pad Hillsdale's lead from one to three.
Walts was 1-for-3 with 3 RBI including a two-run home run to left in the first inning. Sophomore Dante Toppi was 1-for-3 with a run scored for the Chargers.