The Hillsdale College baseball team's Jeff Landis has proven before that he can change a game with one swing of the bat.
In Friday's wild 18-14 win over visiting Ohio Dominican to kick off a weekend series, it was two swings by the freshman first baseman that helped turn the tide.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Landis blasted a grand slam over the right field fence for his fifth home run of the season to turn a 6-5 Charger lead into a a 10-5 advantage.
In the very next inning, after the Panthers plated three runs to cut Hillsdale's edge to 11-8, Landis blasted another grand slam over the right-field wall to score what would end up being the decisive run of the game.
All told, Landis was 5 for 6 with a double, two home runs and nine RBIs in the outing. At six home runs for the season, he leads the Great Midwest Athletic Conference so far in that power-hitting category.
Landis wasn't the only player to have a great day at the plate, as both teams mashed the ball in a high-scoring contest.
ODU jumped out to a 5-1 lead with home runs in the top of the third and the top of the fourth. Hillsdale was able to get a run back on a sacrifice fly by James Krick in the top of the inning, and cut the deficit to 5-4 with two runs in the fifth on a RBI double by Landis and a wild pitch that scored Rob Zurawski.
The Chargers blew the game open in the sixth, scoring seven runs. Along with Landis' grand slam, Cody Kanclerz and Danny Passinault each hit a RBI single, and Zurawski drove in a run on a fielder's choice. In the seventh, Hillsdale added six more runs, with Steven Strachan III hitting a RBI single and later scoring on a wild pitch.
After ODU scored four runs in the eighth to cut the Charger lead to five, Aidan Brewer added an insurance run on a sacrifice fly to score Zurawski in the bottom of the inning.
Relief pitcher Dillon Manion gave up two runs in the top of the ninth inning but ultimately cut a Panther rally short to secure a victory in Hillsdale's home and G-MAC opener.
Along with Landis at the plate, Nick Stepke went 2 for 5 with two doubles for the Chargers, and Kanclerz and Passinault went 2 for 5 as well. Brewer and Jaekob Sallee each stole two bases for Hillsdale, and Lewis Beals and Kanclerz each stole one base.
Will Gifford earned the win in relief for the Chargers, striking out four, walking four and giving up six hits and seven earned runs in two and a third innings of work. Andrew Verbrugge got the start and struck out three and walked six in five innings, giving up five earned runs and six hits. Manion fanned three batters and walked one in an inning and two-thirds of relief.
Hillsdale (5-4, 1-0 G-MAC) handed the previously-undefeated Panthers their first loss of the season. The two teams will meet again on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Simpson Field for another nine inning contest as the weekend series continues.
Photo by Gwen Buchhop