With one of its best single-day performances of 2023, the Hillsdale College baseball team punched its ticket to the G-MAC Tournament on Saturday, sweeping past Malone 7-3 and 10-0 in dominant victories.
The Chargers rode sensational days on the mound from starters Will Gifford and Tommy MacLean, who combined to pitch 14 shutout innings with just six total hits conceded and allowed the Chargers to build big leads in both contests.
At the plate, Hillsdale rained extra base hits all over Skeeles Field at the University of Akron, the neutral site for today's contests. The Chargers finished with 12 extra base hits, including seven home runs, to put both games well out of reach by the final stages.
Gifford threw eight innings of scoreless baseball in Hillsdale's 7-3 Game 1 victory, giving up just three hits and one walk while striking out four batters. It helped that the Chargers got Gifford an early lead, as sophomore Will Shannon blasted a solo home run over the right field fence in the top of the first inning to put the Chargers ahead right off the bat.
Junior Jeff Landis tacked on a solo home run in the top of the fourth inning as well for the Chargers, and Hillsdale blew the game open in the fifth. Paying off a leadoff double by Nick Stepke, senior Lewis Beals hit a three-run home run to right field to give Hillsdale a five run edge, and two batters later junior Joe Hardenbergh hit a shot over the fence in right center to tack on two more runs.
Malone made a late push in the bottom of the ninth inning, plating three runs, but it was too little, too late as closer Zane Barnhart was able to end the trouble by inducing a ground out on two pitches for the final out of the game.
In the nightcap, the Chargers were arguably even more dominant. In the first complete game of his career at Hillsdale, MacLean pitched a shutout, striking out three batters and scattering three hits and two walks across seven scoreless innings for his second win of the season.
MacLean only needed one run from his offense to get the win, but the Chargers bats gave him 10 as Hillsdale stayed hot at the plate in the victory. Senior Cody Kanclerz gave Hillsdale all the offense it needed in the top of the second inning, with a two-run home run that scored Landis, but the Chargers tacked on another run in the top of the fourth on a Danny Passinault double and a Malone error, and took a 4-0 lead in the top of the fifth on a solo home run by Hardenbergh, his second of the day.
The Chargers put the game away in the top of the sixth, taking advantage of a Malone error to load the bases for Beals, who delivered a grand slam over the right field fence. Hillsdale added another run on a wild pitch later in the inning, and Kanclerz hit a RBI single as well.
With the victory, Hillsdale improves to 21-22 overall, and 16-10 in G-MAC play. The Chargers are now seven games ahead of ninth place Malone with six to play, meaning Hillsdale will be traveling to Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio on May 10 as one of the eight teams to qualify for the 2023 G-MAC Tournament.
Although Hillsdale has locked up a spot in the tourney, the Chargers still have plenty to play for in their final six games of the regular season, starting tomorrow, Sunday, with another doubleheader against the Pioneers at Thurman Munson Stadium in Canton, Ohio. Hillsdale is currently fourth in the G-MAC North Standings and fifth overall, but depending on how the remaining conference games play out, the Chargers could finish anywhere from first to eighth in the final seedings, and still have an outside chance at claiming the G-MAC North Division title if they can win out and get other results to fall their way.
Photo by Steve George