The opening game to start the 2023 season for the Hillsdale College baseball team didn't go as the Chargers hoped.
But Hillsdale didn't let that keep them down for long, bouncing back in the nightcap for an extra-inning win over Lee, ranked 11th in NCAA DII in one poll and 18th in another, to split the Chargers' first doubleheader and pick up an important early-season victory.
Coming off a 16-5 loss to the Flames, the defending Gulf South Conference tournament champions, in the first game of the day, Hillsdale got off to a rocky start in the second game of the doubleheader, giving up three hits, including a RBI single to allow Lee to take an early 1-0 lead.
Those three hits, however, would be all the offense the Flames would muster for the rest of the game, as starter Tommy MacLean worked three straight 1-2-3 innings to keep the Flames from building on their lead in the second, third and fourth. When reliever Zane Barnhart took over for MacLean, the junior righthander left after a solid day -- striking out four, walking one and giving up just the one earned run in four and a third innings of work.
With Lee still leading 1-0 despite going quiet offensively, the Chargers found their answer in the top of the fifth inning, as senior Cody Kanclerz hit a solo home run to left field with two outs to tie up the game at one-apiece. Lee threatened to retake the lead in the bottom of the inning with one out and runners on first and second, but Barnhart, now on the mound, turned a double play on a comebacker to the mound with the help of second baseman Nick Stepke and first baseman Jeff Landis, to end the threat.
From there, the two teams held each other scoreless for the next two innings, extending the game past the originally scheduled seven innings and into extras. Barnhart was excellent on the mound in the final four innings of the game, striking out seven of the 14 batters he faced and allowing just one baserunner on a walk in the seventh inning.
With the game in the balance in the top of the ninth, Hillsdale took advantage of some control issues for the Lee relief pitcher, drawing three straight walks to load the bases for Kanclerz. The senior worked the at-bat to draw the bases-loaded walk for the go-ahead run, driving in Augie Hutchison, and Zak Kent scored on a wild pitch in the next at bat to tack on an insurance run and give Hillsdale a 3-1 lead.
That gave Barnhart the chance to wrap up a huge victory over a ranked squad, and the righthander delivered, inducing a ground out to the shortstop, a pop out to the third baseman, and a fly out to centerfield to put the game away.
Jeff Landis added a double in the contest for the Chargers, who manufactured three runs on four hits and played an error-free game defensively to take the victory.
It was a huge bounce-back win for Hillsdale after a tough first game that saw the Chargers fall into a 10-0 hole before Hillsdale could find its first hit. Facing down one of the top pitchers in the south in Lee's Sam Fulton, the Chargers struggled to break through, while Lee's offense slowly pulled away across the first five innings.
Hillsdale found some life in the sixth inning after Lee went to the bullpen for Fulton. Kanclerz broke up the no-hitter with a single, then Jaekob Sallee hit a double down the left field line to give the Chargers runners at second and third. Kanclerz scored on a wild-pitch strikeout that also allowed Aidan Brewer to get on base for the Chargers, and, after a Will Shannon walk, Lewis Beals added three more runs on a bases-clearing double down the left-field line that brought Hillsdale back into the game at 10-4.
For a moment, it looked like Hillsdale might be able to make a run at the Flames, but Lee shut the door, tacking on two runs in the seventh inning and four more in the eighth to take a 12-run lead. Sallee drove in a run on a fielder's choice in the ninth to cut into the deficit a little bit, but it was too little, too late for the Chargers to get back in the game.
Hillsdale finished with four hits in the loss, three in the sixth inning. Trey Haeger also hit a single as a pinch hitter late in the contest for the Chargers. Will Gifford took the loss for Hillsdale, striking out one and walking three in three and two-thirds innings, and Daly Skees, Brandon Scott and Drew Erdei all pitched in relief as well for the Chargers.
Hillsdale (1-1) has one final nine-inning game tomorrow at 1 p.m. against the Flames, and the potential opportunity to take the series from a nationally-ranked opponent if the Chargers can find a way to win.