SCHEDULE:
Hillsdale College (3-6) at Davenport (10-2) | 2 p.m. Saturday, March 7 | Farmers Insurance Athletic Complex - Caledonia, MI
Hillsdale College (3-6) at Davenport (10-2) | Noon Sunday, March 8 | Farmers Insurance Athletic Complex - Caledonia, MI (7 inning game)
Hillsdale College (3-6) at Davenport (10-2) | 2:30 p.m. Sunday, March 8 | Farmers Insurance Athletic Complex - Caledonia, MI
LINKS:
Saturday's game: Live stats | Webcast
Sunday's first game: Live stats | Webcast
Sunday's second game: Live stats | Webcast
An unexpected burst of warm weather has changed the Hillsdale College baseball team's weekend plans.
Originally scheduled to go to Urbana to play a neutral-site doubleheader against Davenport on Saturday and a single game against the host Blue Knights on Sunday, the Chargers are skipping the Ohio trip and going directly to Caledonia, Michigan to play the Panthers on their home field in a 3-game series this weekend.
Hillsdale will get a real test this weekend from the 10-2 Panthers, who were honorable mention in the NCBWA poll on Feb. 23 are coming off a four-game sweep of host Marysville this past weekend.
Davenport is 4-0 all time against Hillsdale, including a three-game sweep of the Chargers last season in a neutral-site series in Sauget, Illinois. The Panthers are in just their third year at the NCAA Division II level after transitioning from NAIA in the 2017-18 season.
The Panthers were picked to finish second in the GLIAC this year in the conference preseason coaches poll, behind defending champion Ashland, receiving one first-place vote.
Davenport is off to a torrid start at the plate in the 2020 season, leading all of Division 2 in batting average up to this point with .373 through 12 games.
Reigning GLIAC player of the year Jacob Buchburger leads the attack for Davenport, hitting .510 so far with five home runs and 29 RBIs, and fellow returning GLIAC first-teamers Travis Harvey (.392, 3 HR, 15 RBI) and Nolan Bryant (.436, 14 RBIs) also feature.
While Hillsdale comes in at 3-6, the Chargers are also entering on a high note offensively after plating 16 runs in a wild win over McKendree last Sunday.
Infielder Cody Kanclerz leads Hillsdale with a .333 batting average, four doubles and six RBIs in 39 plate appearance, while freshman Joe Hardenbergh is also off to a solid start, batting .333 as well and getting four extra-base hits in just 18 plate appearances.