The Hillsdale College baseball team continued to put up big offensive numbers in a doubleheader sweep of Ohio Valley to close out a weekend series against the Fighting Scots on Sunday.
The Chargers finished with 13 hits in a 12-5 win over Ohio Valley in the first game of the day, blowing open a tight 6-5 game with five runs in the sixth inning. Joe Hardenbergh hit a two run double for the Chargers in that inning, Jeff Landis added a RBI double and Aidan Brewer and Danny Passinault each chipped in a RBI single as well.
Brewer went 3 for 5 at the plate and hit his fifth home run of the season to lead the Chargers, Rob Zurawski chipped in two doubles and two RBIs, Cooper Peterson went 2 for 5 with a double and a RBI and Cody Kanclerz went 2 for 4 with a double as well for Hillsdale.
Andrew Verbrugge got the win to improve to 2-1 on the year for Hillsdale, striking out seven, walking three and giving up seven hits and three earned runs in six and a third innings of work. Brendan Pochmara pitched two-thirds of an inning of relief as well for the Chargers.
In the nightcap, Peterson hit a RBI single to score Passinault in the top of the seventh to put the Chargers up 9-5. That run would prove to be critical as Ohio Valley scored three runs in the next two innings to cut Hillsdale's lead to 9-8.
However, Peterson's RBI kept the Chargers out in front, and Hillsdale tacked on two more insurance runs in the top of the ninth, on a OVU balk that scored Nick Stepke and another Peterson hit, a double, that once again scored Passinault to provide the final run in an 11-8 Charger victory.
Passinault went 3 for 5 at the plate to lead the Chargers, while Landis blasted a three-run home run, his eighth of the season, and Zurawski added a solo home run as well.
Kanclerz and Jaekob Sallee each chipped in a RBI double for the Chargers in the second game, Hardenbergh went 2 for 4 with two RBIs and Nick Stepke added two hits as well.
James Krick (1-1) earned his first win of the season for Hillsdale, starting and going five innings with four hits and three walks, and Logan Simon picked up his first save, throwing one and two-thirds scoreless innings with one strikeout, no hits, no walks, and no runs surrendered.
Paul Brophy and Zane Barnhart each pitched an inning of relief and struck out two in their appearance, and Dillon Manion pitched a third of an inning with a strikeout and two walks as well.
At 9-7 overall, and 5-3 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, Hillsdale is currently tied for fourth in the G-MAC standings and in a strong position with a large portion of the season still to play. The Chargers hit the road again next weekend for a four game series at an always-tough Malone squad in Canton, Ohio, beginning Friday, March 26 at 1 p.m.
Photo by Gwen Buchhop