Throughout his career, junior Jeff Landis has been one of the most feared power hitters in the Hillsdale College baseball team's lineup.
In the back half of 2023 though, he's taken it to another level, and the junior is finding himself on the receiving end of Great Midwest Athletic Conference honors as a result.
Landis was named the G-MAC North Division Player of the Week on Monday afternoon, the conference office announced, his first time receiving the honor this season and the second weekly honor of his career.
The junior tore through one of the top pitching staffs in the G-MAC in Hillsdale's road series victory over Ashland this past weekend, hitting .565 in four contests with two doubles, a triple, three home runs and 10 RBIs. With conference tournament seeding and the best conference finish in modern Hillsdale College baseball history on the line on Saturday, Landis came through in a big way, hitting a three-run home run in each contest of the doubleheader to help propel the Chargers to big run totals in two victories.
It hasn't been the easiest season for Landis, who missed multiple weeks in the middle of the campaign with an injury, but the junior has impressively overcome adversity. Since working his way back to health, Landis has been red-hot at the plate, hitting a scorching .427 with four doubles, 10 home runs and 28 RBIs in 22 G-MAC contests. His 1.304 OPS leads all G-MAC players in conference action for the season, and has him in line for a variety of honors as the end of the season approaches.
All this success is just building on an impressive legacy already for the junior at Hillsdale College. Landis is now second all-time in program history with 35 home runs, and now within plausible striking distance of the program record holder, Steven Ring, and his total of 53 with the postseason this year and one additional season to play. He's also second behind Ring in career RBIs with 133, and closing in on the top 10 all-time at Hillsdale in a variety of other categories.
Landis and the Chargers will look to stay hot and do some damage in the G-MAC Tournament this week at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio, just north of Cincinnati. Hillsdale is the fourth seed and takes on fifth seeded Findlay in first round action on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.
Photo by Steve George