Game 1 box score: Hillsdale 6, Indianapolis 1
Game 2 box score: Indianapolis 13, Hillsdale 7
The long-awaited season opener games for the Hillsdale College baseball team featured a split with a talented regional foe, playing in Johnson City, Tennessee, at TVA Credit Union Field.
The Chargers were victorious in Saturday's opener, 6-1, thanks to some impressive pitching and timely hitting. The Greyhounds came back with a group of big innings in a 13-7 win over Hillsdale.
The teams wrap up their three-game series Sunday afternoon.
Game 1 saw Sawyer Allen turn in a quality start on the mound, Josh Stella working out of a jam in the fifth inning, and Andrew Verbrugge shutting the door the rest of the way as they combined on a terrific pitching performance for Hillsdale.
Stella recorded a two-out strikeout when UIndy had runners on second and third in the fifth inning, with the score sitting 2-1 Hillsdale.
The Chargers came back with runs in the fifth and sixth innings, and two more in the eighth, rewarding Stella's clutch pitching.
Verbrugge took over from there, tossing four innings in relief with four strikeouts and no walks allowed, picking up the win.
Sophomore Cody Kanclerz opened his season in a big way, going 4-for-4. Steven Strachan belted his first career home run while senior Jake Rhodes walked twice and scored twice.
In game two, the Greyhounds scored four times in the fourth and three more in the fifth to bust open what was a 1-1 game.
Kanclerz had another big game at the plate, going 2-for-5 with a triple, 2 RBI and a run scored. Rhodes scored two more runs. Freshman Aiden Brewer was 2-for-3 with a run scored and a run batted in, and freshman Jeff Landis had a triple during the first multi-hit game of his career.
PHOTO: Camryn Olson