The Hillsdale College baseball team clubbed four home runs, and a relief pitcher had his strikeout game on, as the team defeated Saginaw Valley State University 8-6 in a regional matchup Tuesday afternoon in University Center. The win makes Hillsdale 12-19 on the season. The Chargers have won four of their past six games and have scored eight or more runs in all four of those wins.
Senior Steven Ring homered twice, and James Krick and Colin Boerst each hit round-trippers as the Chargers returned to a traditional strength of theirs, the home run. Hillsdale now has hit 36 home runs already this season, with almost one-third of them coming from their all-time leader.
Ring hit solo home runs in the third and ninth innings, giving him a G-MAC-high 10 for the season. He also became the first player in program history with three seasons of double digit home runs.
The Chargers jumped on the Cardinals right away, taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning and leading 7-2 after four. Krick's two-run shot brought home Ring, who doubled earlier in the inning, to stake Hillsdale to a five-run lead.
Starting pitcher Andrew Verbrugge threw the first four innings before giving way to reliever David Toth. In his five innings of work, Toth struck out six, including two in the ninth inning, to pick up the victory. Toth has 36 strikeouts in 34 innings pitched this season.
Ring was 3-for-5 with 2 RBI and three runs scored. Krick was 3-for-5, scoring once while driving in three. Michael Mitchell, getting the start in left field, also stepped up with a three-hit game. The top five batters in Hillsdale's lineup accounted for all 12 of the team's hits in the win.
PHOTO: Todd Lancaster