If the Hillsdale College baseball team wants to return to the G-MAC Tournament in 2024, the Chargers will have to stack as many wins as possible over the final two series of the season.
If Hillsdale plays like it did on Saturday the rest of the way, it'll have an excellent chance of doing just that. The Chargers shut down visiting Kentucky Wesleyan's offense, holding the Panthers to just three runs, zero earned in 16 innings of action, while battering the Panthers' highly-regarded pitching staff when they took their turn at the plate in 6-3 and 14-0 victories.
Saturday was the Stadium Dedication celebration for the Lenda and Glenda Hill Stadium and TFO Partners Field, which opened this season, with the stadium namesakes both in attendance for the celebration. The two twins who helped make Hillsdale's new stadium possible got to watch the Chargers put on a baseball clinic in much-needed victories over the Panthers.
Hillsdale did all of its game one damage early, jumping out to a three-run lead in the bottom of the first by taking advantage of a Kentucky Wesleyan error with a Jaekob Sallee RBI double, a sacrifice fly, and a run scored from third on a wild pitch.
The Chargers doubled their lead in the bottom of the third thanks to two key two-out hits, a Joe Hardenbergh single that, combined with a walk, helped to load the bases, and then a bases-clearing double by senior Danny Passinault that gave the Chargers a 6-0 edge.
Hillsdale ran into trouble in the top of the sixth, as two errors allowed Kentucky Wesleyan to score three runs and then load the bases again. With a chance to tie the game, Passinault came up with a big defensive play in center field, robbing a double from the Panthers with an over-the-shoulder catch on the run that ended the threat and preserved Hillsdale's lead.
The Panthers got two on in the bottom of the ninth with one out and the potential tying run at the plate, but Hillsdale turned a double play thanks to deft fielding by relief pitcher Chad Stevens to end the game and secure the victory.
Starter Tommy MacLean earned his fourth win of the season for the Chargers, going six innings with three strikeouts, three walks and no earned runs conceded. Stevens pitched the final three innings for his first save of the season, striking out three and walking none.
Passinault was 3 for 5 with a double to lead the Chargers in game one, and Hardenbergh and Zak Kent each chipped in two hits. Jaekob Sallee and Aaron Jasiak each added a double as well for Hillsdale.
In the nightcap, Hillsdale broke open a developing pitchers duel, blasting the Panthers on the way to a 14-0 rout. After two and a half scoreless innings, Aaron Jasiak broke open the game with a lead-off solo home run in the bottom of the third, with Will Shannon adding a RBI single and Rocco Tenuta hitting a two-run single as well later in the inning to give Hillsdale a 4-0 lead.
The Chargers pulled away in the bottom of the fifth, as Shannon added another RBI single and freshman Will Millard blasted a two-run home run as well. Hillsdale added icing to the cake in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring seven more runs capped by a Joe Hardenbergh grand slam to finish off the Panthers. Zak Kent added a RBI single and Sallee a RBI double as well in the bottom of the sixth for Hillsdale.
The offensive outburst was somewhat superfluous for Hillsdale thanks to a pitching gem from senior starter Drew Olssen, who had perhaps the best outing of his five-year career at Hillsdale by pitching a complete game two-hitter with five strikeouts and one walk for his first career shutout, and just Hillsdale's second shutout of 2024.
Kent went 3 for 4 at the plate with a triple to lead an impressive offensive performance by the Chargers in the win, and Shannon went 3 for 4 as well.
Hillsdale improves to 18-25 overall, 12-14 in the G-MAC with the victories, and makes up much-needed ground in a tight race for the final spots in the G-MAC Tournament. The Chargers still have work to do to make it in, and an opportunity to sweep the series with the Panthers with another doubleheader on Sunday at 1 p.m. and put themselves in a solid position as they head on the road for the final G-MAC series of the regular season at Walsh next Thursday and Friday. Sunday also is senior day for the Chargers, as all 15 of Hillsdale's graduating seniors will be recognized in a ceremony before the start of the first game.
Photo by Steve George