Game 1 box score: Hillsdale 12, Trevecca Nazarene 3
Game 2 box score: Hillsdale 7, Trevecca Nazarene 4
The Hillsdale College baseball team extended its winning streak to six games in a doubleheader sweep of new conference foe Trevecca Nazarene University on a frigid Friday afternoon at Simpson Field.
The Chargers scored runs in a wide variety of ways in securing wins of 12-3 and 7-4 over the Trojans, improving their record to 9-13 overall and 6-0 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. Only Ohio Dominican and Hillsdale remain undefeated in conference play.
Hillsdale's 7-4 game 2 win was also the 100th career victory for coach Eric Theisen.
Junior Steven Ring, the reigning G-MAC North Division Player of the Week, kept flexing his muscles in this doubleheader sweep. He belted two home runs in the game one victory, moving him into second place on Hillsdale's career home runs list with 26. He needs eight more to claim the record for his own.
On the day, Ring went 4-for-9 with 5 RBI and 3 runs scored. In six G-MAC games, he has five doubles and five home runs.
The Chargers scored eight runs in the final two innings, but they already had enough offense for senior pitcher Will Kruse, who notched a complete-game victory in the opener. He struck out a season-high 11 batters with only one walk and allowed just two earned runs in earning his second victory of the season. Kruse's ball-to-strike ratio was simply outstanding. He threw 86 pitches for strikes, out of 109 on the day.
Junior Dylan Lottinville had a big day for Hillsdale, going 3-for-5 with 2 RBI and a run scored in the opener. He had a single, a run scored and a run batted in during the team's game two win.
Senior Colin Hites scored a career-high 4 runs in the opener, going 2-for-2. In game two, he had a double, going 2-for-2 once again with 2 RBI and a run scored. Dante Toppi, Jake Hoover and Alex Walts each had a pair of hits in game two, with Walts driving in two.
The Chargers outhit the Trojans 27-12 combined in the doubleheader.
Phil Carey was the winning pitcher in game two, going five innings. Freshman David Toth picked up his third save with a perfect seventh inning of work.