The Hillsdale College baseball team entered this weekend with a critical matchup to open Great Midwest Athletic Conference play, against the team picked directly ahead of them in the preseason poll, Ohio Dominican, at Simpson Field.
The Chargers managed to get through the weekend with a solid performance, battling a red-hot Panthers team to a standstill for a 2-2 split in Hillsdale's home-opening weekend.
Saturday
Coming off a wild 18-14 win on Friday night, Hillsdale got off to a hot start in its nine-inning game on Saturday, jumping out to a 6-0 lead through three innings, but couldn't hold off a late Panther rally as ODU scored nine unanswered runs in a 9-6 victory.
Jeff Landis and Aidan Brewer each hit a sacrifice fly in the first inning of the contest to help Hillsdale take a 2-0 lead, and the Chargers plated four in the bottom of the third, with Nick Stepke hitting a two-run single, Brewer adding a RBI single and Danny Passinault drawing a bases-loaded walk.
The Panthers got back in the game with a four-run top of the fourth inning, then plated five combined runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to pull ahead for good.
Brewer and Cody Kanclerz each went 2 for 4 to lead the Chargers at the plate, and Nate Waligora took the loss in relief for the Chargers, striking out three, walking five and giving up four earned runs in four innings of work. David Toth was the starter for Hillsdale, pitching five innings with nine strikeouts, three walks and four earned runs.
Sunday
Wrapping up the G-MAC series with the Panthers with a doubleheader on Sunday, Hillsdale took their second win of the weekend in the first contest thanks to an excellent pitching outing by Sawyer Allen.
Allen went all seven innings in the game, striking out four, walking four, scattering three hits and giving up just one earned run to help the Chargers to a 3-2 win and earn his second pitching win of the season.
ODU jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning and tacked on an insurance run in the top of the sixth, but Hillsdale rallied in the bottom of the inning with three runs to take the lead, and Allen shut the door in the top of the seventh to seal the victory.
Landis, Kanclerz and Stepke each hit a RBI single in the sixth inning to help Hillsdale pull ahead, helping pay off a leadoff double by Rob Zurawski to start the inning.
Zurawski and Landis each finished with two hits to lead the Chargers in the victory.
In the nightcap, Hillsdale jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the second inning thanks in part to a RBI single by Stepke, but Ohio Dominican seized control with a four-run third inning and pulled away for a 9-5 victory to force the series split.
Steven Strachan III hit a solo home run in the seventh and Joe Hardenbergh added a RBI single to lead the Chargers at the plate in the loss. James Crick took the loss on the mound for Hillsdale, striking out four, walking three and giving up three earned runs in three innings. Paul Brophy, Zane Barnhart and Logan Simon each pitched in relief for the Chargers, with Simon striking out the side in his inning on the mound and Barnhart adding two strikeouts.
Hillsdale (6-6, 2-2 G-MAC) will look to move up the G-MAC standings and put themselves in a good spot next weekend, as it travels to Vienna, West Virginia to face Ohio Valley (1-7, 0-3 G-MAC) in doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday.