Baseball Advances In G-MAC Tournament With 7-2 Win Over Hillsdale

OVERVIEW – HILLSDALE

SCORES: No. 1 Northwood Timberwolves 7, No. 4 Hillsdale Chargers 2

RECORDS: Northwood (37-16), Hillsdale (26-25)

LOCATION: Prasco Park – Mason, Ohio

RECAP: Top-seeded Northwood extends its winning streak to nine with a 7-2 win over No. 4 Hillsdale in the second round of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament Thursday (May 11).

GAME HIGHLIGHTS (NINE INNINGS)

• Blake Salamon got Northwood on the board in the top of the first inning, hitting a long double to right field high off the tall fence to make the score 1-0.
• Carson Longstreth continued his hot-hitting of late in the second inning, hitting his second home run of the tournament to left field. That two-run shot made it 3-0.
• NU eventually made it a four-run second thanks to a Myles Beale RBI single that pushed the advantage to 5-0.
• The Chargers got back-to-back triples in the fourth inning to get on the board and make it 5-1.
• Hillsdale plated another run in the fifth to get within three at 5-2.
• Salamon and Longstreth came through with RBIs in the seventh for Northwood to get the lead back to five. Salamon brought home a run on a single and Longstreth walked with the bases loaded to make the score 7-2.
• Northwood starter Zach Abbey pitched into the eighth, allowing two runs. Jake Jekielek then record the final five outs of the game, all on strikeouts, to give Northwood the win.

GAME STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 7/9/1, Hillsdale 2/12/2
• Runners left on base: Northwood 9, Hillsdale 10
• Winning Pitcher: Zach Abbey – (5-0): 7 1/3 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 3 K
• Losing Pitcher: Tommy MacLean – (3-5) 6 IP, 7 H, 6 R (5 ER), 4 BB, 3 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Longstreth: 1-2, HR, 3 RBIs, 2 BB
• Salamon: 2-5, 2B, 2 RBIs
• Beale: 1-3, 2 R, 2 RBIs, 2 SB
• Evans: 2-4
• Jekielek: 1 2/3 IP, 3 H, 5 K

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• Northwood's 38 wins are now tied for the second most in a season in program history, matching the mark from 2018. The 2017 holds the school record for most wins in a season at 46.
• The Timberwolves are ranked No. 5 in the latest NCAA Division II Midwest Regional rankings, which were released Wednesday (May 10). Quincy stands atop the list, followed by Illinois-Springfield, Maryville, Wayne State and Northwood. The top seven teams earn a bid to the tournament.

UP NEXT

• Northwood will take on seventh-seeded Ohio Dominican Friday morning (May 12). The two teams are the final unbeaten programs left in the tournament. The winner advances to Saturday's final.