The Hillsdale College baseball team showed it has the bats to score runs on anyone in Tuesday's midweek game at Central Michigan, even against pitching from a strong NCAA DI program.
The Chippewas, however, swung big bats of their own in Tuesday's contest, and used a big first inning to pull away for a 15-6 victory over the Chargers.
With many of Hillsdale's players going up against a Division I opponent in a real contest for the first time, the Chargers showed no fear, striking first in the top of the first inning. Outfielder Lewis Beals hit a double in Hillsdale's second at-bat, and sophomore Will Shannon followed with another double to score Beals and give the Chargers a 1-0 lead. Senior third baseman Cody Kanclerz added an RBI single later in the inning to score Shannon and put the Chargers up 2-0 early.
But Central Michigan came right back with a vengeance, as its first six batters of the game reached and the Chippewas had a 4-2 lead before Hillsdale recorded its first out. Central Michigan would tack on three more runs to lead 7-2 after the first inning.
Beals got a run back for the Chargers with another big hit in the top of the second, scoring Zak Kent to cut the deficit to 7-3, and Hillsdale held Central Michigan scoreless for the next three innings to stay within striking distance. However, Hillsdale couldn't close the game, and Central Michigan put the game away for good with four more runs in the bottom of the fifth and another four over the next two innings.
The Chargers kept battling, scoring twice in the top of the seventh on a Danny Passinault single and a groundout by Aidan Brewer, and again in the top of the ninth on a groundout by pinch hitter Trey Haeger, but it wasn't enough to get back in the game.
Beals and Shannon each had a single and a double to lead the Chargers at the plate, while Kent hit a triple, walked twice and scored three of Hillsdale's six runs in the loss. Caleb Biedeharn got the start and took the loss for the Chargers, while Drew Olssen returned from injury and pitched two effective innings of relief and Kolin Endres, Brendan Pochmara, Nate Waligora, Drew Erdei and Brandon Scott all appeared in relief for Hillsdale as well.
The Chargers fall to 13-18 with the loss but the experience of playing against a NCAA Division I opponent, and a legitimate conference title contender at that level, to boot, should serve Hillsdale well as it enters the stretch run of conference play looking to secure a G-MAC Tournament berth. Hillsdale hosts Lake Erie for a four-game series this weekend, with two contests scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday. It's also Alumni Day for the Chargers as Hillsdale welcomes back former players from throughout the decades back to Simpson Field to cheer on their former team.