Game 1 box score: Trevecca 9, Hillsdale 3
Game 2 box score: Hillsdale 22, Trevecca 11
One of the unique aspects of the game of baseball is how little one game can resemble a different game on the very same day.
Such was the case for the Hillsdale College baseball team Friday afternoon.
After getting held down by Trevecca Nazarene pitcher Jake Roberson in a 9-3 game one loss, the Charger bats exploded in game two, to the tune of a 22-11 victory over the Trojans on a windy day at Simpson Field. Hillsdale now stands at 19-23 overall and 13-13 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
The teams will conclude their four-game series starting at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
The Trojans scored five sixth-inning runs in the opener to take command in what was a close game.
Jake Hoover went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and Colin Boerst got a big day started by going 2-for-4 for the Chargers in the opener. Steven Ring, Hoover and James Krick drove in the three runs in the first game.
It took less than an inning for Hillsdale to easily exceed that production in the second game. Hillsdale scored 10 first-inning runs in the second game. Hoover belted the first of five Hillsdale home runs in the second game to help spark that 10-run first.
All five of Hillsdale's home runs came in the first three innings, giving this team 67 for the season, one short of the single-season school record, currently held by the 2016 team.
Boerst was locked in during the nightcap, hitting two home runs while going 4-for-4 with 3 RBI and five runs scored. That gives him a career-high nine home runs so far this season.
Rob Zurawski drove in a career-high six runs, walking twice and going 2-for-2 with three runs scored and a home run. Dante Toppi belted a two-run home run, going 2-for-4 with three runs scored and two driven in.
Ring scored three times and had two hits, while James Krick was 3-for-5, driving in two and scoring two times. Christian Rodino had two hits and scored three runs, while Chris Ackerman got in on the fun with a two-run double.
Sawyer Allen came on in relief and pitched 3 1/3 effective innings, allowing no runs and just three hits.
PHOTO: MaryKate Drews