SUNDAY RECAP
Game 1 box score: Ashland 7, Hillsdale 0
Game 2 box score: Ashland 16, Hillsdale 11
The Hillsdale College baseball team lost consecutive games in the same series for just the second time this season, dropping both ends of Sunday's doubleheader to Ashland University, 7-0 and 16-11 at Simpson Field.
The Chargers are now 21-12 overall and 9-7 in the GLIAC. Ashland, the first place team in the conference, is now 11-1 in the GLIAC.
The best hitting team in the conference, Hillsdale was held uncharacteristically quiet in the opener by Eagles starter Brandyn Sittinger, who held the Chargers to no runs and just two hits in the opener. Ethan Wiskur (single) and Connor Bartlett (double) were the only players to notch hits in the first game.
The second game was a wild back-and-forth affair that lasted more than 3 ½ hours. The Chargers held leads of 4-0 and 9-6 in the early innings, but Ashland's lethal middle of the order did plenty of damage, generating a seven-run fifth inning to grab control of the contest.
Hillsdale's offense had a more Charger-like game in the nightcap, led by Luke Ortel's home run and double among a 3-for-6 game that included 2 RBI and 2 runs scored. Senior Connor Bartlett also homered, and Chris McDonald and Ethan Wiskur each had three hits and drove in three. Tad Sobieszczanski had a triple and was 2-for-5 with 2 runs scored.
Ortel now has 44 career doubles and 18 this season, and needs just one more double to equal both the single-season and career records at the school.
Freshman Cam Maxwell belted out two singles and drove in two runs, completing an excellent weekend at the plate.
UP NEXT: Hillsdale faces Findlay for a key midweek doubleheader Wednesday in Ohio.
SATURAY RECAP
Game 1 box score: Ashland 9, Hillsdale 8
Game 2 box score: Hillsdale 9, Ashland 6
Enjoying its best season in well over two decades, the Hillsdale College baseball team stood toe-to-toe with the GLIAC's first place club on a summer-like Saturday afternoon at Simpson Field.
The Chargers lost a heartbreaker in their opener against Ashland University, falling 9-8 in a classic back-and-forth game. Hillsdale rebounded nicely with a 9-6 win in the nightcap, handing the Eagles their first conference loss of the season.
The two teams will conclude their four-game weekend series starting at noon Sunday.
Ashland (19-12, 9-1 GLIAC) came into the game sporting one of the conference's best pitching staffs. The Chargers (21-11, 9-5 GLIAC)were equal to that task and then some, totaling 17 runs in 16 innings Saturday, while blasting seven home runs as a team.
In game one, Ashland held a 6-3 lead going into the bottom of the sixth inning. Hillsdale then went into Home Run Derby mode. Senior pinch hitter Nick Sponseller got it started with a double. Two batters later, senior Tad Sobieszczanski hit his second home run of the game, an absolute monster of a shot that easily cleared the scoreboard in left field to make it a 6-5 game.
Senior Chris McDonald tied the game one pitch later with a home run to center, and junior Ethan Wiskur kept the fireworks going with a solo shot, giving the Chargers back-to-back-to-back home runs to take a 7-6 lead.
But the Eagles showed why they are one of the GLIAC's most successful programs year after year, answering the heavy shot by Hillsdale with a three-run comeback of their own.
The Chargers scratched out one run in the bottom of the seventh, when Luke Ortel scored off a Sobieszczanski single and fielding error. But Hillsdale would score no more.
Sobieszczanski had his best offensive game of the season, crushing a pair of home runs while going 4-for-5 with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored. Ortel and Wiskur were both 3-for-5, each hitting one over the fence. Senior Connor Bartlett added two hits in defeat.
Game two saw Hillsdale grab the lead in the fourth inning, by similar means to game one, but by different hitters.
Freshmen Steven Ring and Cam Maxwell each hit their first career home runs at home in back-to-back at bats in the frame, leading the Chargers to a three-run inning that put them ahead 4-1. Maxwell's shot was the highlight in the best offensive game of his young career, as he went 3-for-4 with 3 runs scored and 3 runs batted in. Both Ring and Maxwell figure prominently in Hillsdale's future.
Ortel doubled as part of his 2-for-5 game with a run batted in and a run scored. Ring went 2-for-4 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI. Senior Evan Chalker got the win in relief with Mitchell Gatt earning his third save of the season.
PHOTO CREDIT: Kadie Lowery