The Hillsdale College baseball team had a big day at the plate, scoring a combined 24 runs and racing out to big leads to sweep visiting Lake Erie in a Saturday doubleheader.
Hillsdale scored 14 runs on 18 hits in a 14-7 victory over the Storm in game one, jumping out to a 5-0 lead before Lake Erie recorded a hit and scoring at least one run in seven of the eight innings it batted in.
Two-run home runs by Will Shannon in the first inning and Cody Kanclerz in the bottom of the third helped build that 5-0 lead for the Chargers, as well as a RBI single by Brewer in the second.
Shannon added a RBI single and Kanclerz a RBI double later on in the the game, and Jaekob Sallee chipped in a two-run home run, Lewis Beals a RBI double and Danny Passinault a RBI single as well as Hillsdale outscored a late push by the Storm to get back in the game.
Brewer went 4 for 6 with a double to lead Hillsdale at the plate, and Kanclerz and Joe Hardenbergh each went 3 for 5 as well for the Chargers.
Will Gifford picked up his fifth win of the season on the mound, striking out nine, walking two and giving up four earned runs in six innings. Dillon Manion, Nate Waligora and Zane Barnhart each pitched in relief for the Chargers, with Barnhart striking out three of the six batters he faced in the final inning and two-thirds of the contest.
In the nightcap, Hillsdale never trailed after a three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning by Joe Hardenbergh gave Hillsdale a 3-0 lead, and the Chargers led by as many as seven runs before Lake Erie made a late push to cut the score to its final 10-7 margin.
Aidan Brewer stayed hot at the plate with a three-run home run and a RBI single early in the game as well for the Chargers, and Nick Stepke gave Hillsdale an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI single as well.
Tommy MacLean picked up his first win of the season on the mound as well, striking out five, walking three and giving up four earned runs in five innings of work. Logan Simon and Chad Stevens each pitched an inning of relief to help secure the win for the Chargers.
Brewer and Shannon each went 2 for 4 at the plate to lead Hillsdale in the victory, and Passinault added a double.
Hillsdale improves to 15-18 overall and 10-8 in G-MAC play, now five games clear of the cutline for the eighth and final G-MAC Tournament berth and in sixth overall in the G-MAC, a game back of Ohio Dominican.
The Chargers will finish the series with Lake Erie at home on Tuesday, April 18, with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. The doubleheader originally was scheduled for Sunday but a high chance of thunderstorms forced the doubleheader to be pushed back to the next available clear day.
Photo by Isabella Sheehan