The Hillsdale College baseball team entered Wednesday's G-MAC Tournament opener against Ohio Dominican as the underdog.
You wouldn't have been able to tell, though, by the final scoreline.
Rather than the David in the matchup, the sixth-seeded Chargers were the team that looked like Goliath, outhitting the three-seeded Panthers 15-5 to roll to a 7-2 victory at Legacy Field in Mason, Ohio, and advance in the winner's bracket.
The Hillsdale bats were active from the start, pounding out six hits in the first three innings, but couldn't break through early, stranding six baserunners in those three innings.
The Chargers finally broke through in the top of the sixth. After singles by Nick Stepke and Tyler Harris to open the inning, Cooper Peterson hit a double to left field to score the Chargers' first run of the game. Hillsdale tacked on two more on a fielder's choice by Lewis Beals that scored Harris, and a sacrifice fly by James Crick that scored Peterson.
The Chargers scored in each of the final three innings to ensure they held on to the lead. Beals got another RBI on a single up the middle in the top of the seventh that was part of a two-run inning for Hillsdale, Rob Zurawski scored on a bases-loaded balk by the Panthers in the eighth, and Cody Kanclerz hit a RBI double in the ninth to help the Chargers keep their edge on the scoreboard.
While Hillsdale's offense found its stride, an excellent pitching outing by starter David Toth helped buy the Chargers the time they needed to pull ahead. Toth threw seven scoreless innings of one-hit ball with eight strikeouts and three walks, going into the eighth before being relieved and finishing with seven and a third innings pitched, and having conceded just three hits and two earned runs. Logan Simon finished off the victory for the Chargers, going one and two-thirds innings with two strikeouts and a walk.
The Chargers also got huge defensive plays as well. Ohio Dominican advanced a runner to third in a scoreless game in the third, fourth and fifth innings, but each time, Hillsdale was able to prevent him from scoring. Catcher Tyler Harris caught Derek Kutrubs attempting to steal home in the bottom of the third to end the threat, and third baseman Nick Stepke made an excellent throw to prevent a run from scoring in the fifth as well.
Stepke and Kanclerz each finished with three hits on the day to lead the Chargers at the plate, and Jeff Landis, Harris and Beals each chipped in two hits as well.
Hillsdale improves to 20-21 on the season with the victory. The Chargers advance to the winner's bracket semifinal on Thursday at 1:30 p.m., back on Legacy Field against the winner of the game between 2-seed Walsh and 7-seed Cedarville currently in progress. A win in that contest would put the Chargers in the winner's bracket final on Friday and just one win away from the G-MAC Championship game on Saturday.
Photo by Anthony Lupi