Coming off an exciting opening day on Saturday, the Hillsdale College baseball team carried that momentum into two Sunday contests with host Maryville, beating the Saints 4-2 and 10-3 to sweep the weekend series and improve to 4-0 overall.
The Chargers rode another fast start to a 4-2 victory in the first game of the day on Sunday. RBI singles by Joe Hardenbergh and Jeff Landis helped the Chargers jump out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, and Aidan Brewer added to the lead with a solo home run in the fourth.
Rob Zurawski scored on an error in the fifth inning to give the Chargers an insurance run, and that proved to be enough to hold off a late Maryville rally.
For the third straight game, Hillsdale got strong pitching from its staff. Drew Olssen got the start and picked up his first collegiate win, pitching five innings of scoreless, two-hit ball with six strikeouts and two walks. Will Gifford earned the save for the Chargers, pitching a scoreless seventh inning, and Chad Stevens pitched an inning of relief as well.
Zurawski and Cody Kanclerz each went 2 for 4 at the plate to lead the Chargers offensively in the contest, and Lewis Beals chipped in a single and a stolen base.
In the nightcap, Hillsdale scored six runs in the top of the ninth inning to pull away from Maryville and secure a 10-3 victory, and the sweep.
Brewer hit a two-run home run to kick off the scoring in the ninth for the Chargers, and Landis followed up with a grand slam to put the game away.
Beals led off the game with his first collegiate home run to give the Chargers an early 1-0 lead, then Zurawski hit a two-run single and James Krick brought in another run, scoring Cooper Peterson on a sacrifice fly to give the Chargers a 4-1 edge.
Maryville made things interesting in the bottom of the eighth with a two-run home run by Austin Tapella to cut the Charger lead to 4-3, but Hillsdale's six-run inning ended any hope of a Saint comeback.
Sawyer Allen picked up the win for the Chargers in a strong seven-inning performance, striking out nine and walking two while giving up six hits and three earned runs. Paul Brophy earned his first collegiate save in two innings of relief for Hillsdale, striking out three batters, walking one, and surrendering no runs or hits.
Hillsdale (4-0) is off to a strong start to the 2021 season, and will look to maintain its momentum with another weekend series on tap against Illinois-Springfield, starting with a single game on Friday, March 5 at 1 p.m.
Photo by Kasidy Carson