Schedule
Hillsdale College (3-4) at Maryville (1-2) | 3 p.m. ET Saturday, Feb. 26 | Weber Baseball Field – Johnson City, TN
Hillsdale College (3-4) at Maryville (1-2) | 1 p.m. ET Sunday, Feb. 27 | Weber Baseball Field – Johnson City, TN
Hillsdale College (3-4) at Maryville (1-2) | 4 p.m. ET Saturday, Feb. 27 | Weber Baseball Field – Johnson City, TN
Links
Hillsdale Roster | Maryville Roster | Hillsdale Stats | Maryville Stats
Preview
Sitting just below .500 after back-to-back weekend series against two of the top teams in the Midwest Region, the Charger baseball team heads to St. Louis this weekend looking to build momentum with the start of G-MAC play just two weeks away.
Hillsdale went 1-3 this past weekend in a four-game series with Northwood at Johnson City, Tennessee, but all three losses were close – Hillsdale had the go-ahead run on base in the final inning of two losses, and trailed by just one run entering the final inning in the third.
Now, the Chargers take on a Maryville squad that Hillsdale has had success against over the years, going 11-4 in the last 15 games, including seven straight victories.
The host Saints opened the season on Feb 11-13 at the Houston Winter Invitational, opening 0-2 with a 10-3 loss to Central Missouri and a 7-6 heartbreaker loss to Arkansas Tech, before rallying for a 12-2 win over Arkansas-Monticello to close out the weekend. Maryville is coming off a season where it went 19-21 overall and finished fifth in the GLVC Blue division, failing to advance to the GLVC tournament.
Maryville returns its top hitter and pitcher from last season infielder Joey Polak and left-hander Ryan Louck, as the core of a team looking to reach the GLVC Tourney for the first time since 2019. Polak, a second-team All-GLVC honoree in 2021, is off to a red-hot start, hitting .556 in the opening weekend with a 1.581 OPS, a home run and three RBIs. Senior Dominic Connolly and sophomore Andy Bunton are also hitting above .300 so far for the Saints.
On the mound, all three Maryville starters were roughed up in their first start of the season, but Louck's loss came against the third-ranked team in the country and he remains one of the GLVC's best pitchers. Junior Nick Schmidt and sophomore Geo Camfield also started for the Saints on opening weekend, while junior Jamie Young started eight games last season with a 3-3 record and a 6.69 ERA and could be the fourth starter. Freshman Nolan Miller was effective in long relief on opening weekend and could be a starting option as well.
Closer Drake Salsman graduated after last season, which means the Saints will look to a variety of players, including potentially Miller and Young, to step into high-leverage reliever roles.
The Chargers, meanwhile, are looking to build off a solid start in its opening two weekends. Fully healthy after missing most of last season with injuries, sophomore outfielder Lewis Beals is hitting .522 with three doubles, a triple and six RBIs to lead Hillsdale at the plate, while sophomore shortstop Aidan Brewer looked strong last weekend against the Timberwolves, hitting .571 with three doubles and four RBIs as well.
Sophomore outfielder Steven Strachan III and sophomore catcher Jaekob Sallee are each hitting above .300 with multiple extra base hits, while sophomore first baseman Jeff Landis and sophomore outfielders Joe Hardenbergh and Cooper Peterson each have a home run so far, as the Chargers are hitting .294 as a team and averaging 8.3 runs per game.
On the mound, Hillsdale's rebuilt pitching rotation held up decently against two of the most fearsome lineups in the Midwest Region. Junior Will Gifford had a standout performance to earn the victory in his second career start against Davenport, striking out 12 batters and posting a 1.50 ERA in six innings in a showing that earned him G-MAC Pitcher of the Week honors. This past weekend, Tommy MacLean also had an impressive showing in his second career appearance, going five innings with four strikeouts and just one earned run to pick up his first career victory. Sophomore Paul Brophy also had a solid start for the Chargers in a 5-2 loss to Northwood last Sunday.
Hillsdale's bullpen also has solid performers to draw on, including senior James Crick, junior Dillon Manion and sophomore Zane Barnhart, all of whom have had at least one quality appearance already this season.
The Chargers opened the 2021 season at Maryville for a four-game series the last time these two teams met, sweeping all four games with three strong pitching performances. Senior David Toth threw the first no-hitter by a Hillsdale pitcher in at least 30 years in a 1-0 victory to highlight the sweep, while Landis led the Chargers at the plate with three home runs and nine RBIs in the weekend series.