The Hillsdale College baseball team accomplished its main goal on Friday, winning 4-2 over visiting Malone in the only finished game on a rainy afternoon to send off its seniors in the best possible fashion.
Friday was senior day, and the Chargers celebrated its five seniors who are graduating this weekend -- Marc Bergeron, James Krick, Cooper Peterson, Steven Strachan III, and David Toth -- after the first contest of the afternoon. The mood was a celebratory one, coming off an important and much needed win to start the series against the Pioneers.
The Chargers fell behind early in the contest, giving up an RBI triple in the second inning, but buckled down with three scoreless innings after that and tied the game in the bottom of the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Jaekob Sallee after a triple by Zak Kent got the freshman in scoring position.
Malone retook the lead in the top of the sixth on a RBI double, but didn't have the advantage for long. Back-to-back singles by Danny Passinault and Aidan Brewer to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning helped get runners in scoring position, and Krick took advantage with a two-run double to left center to score both and give the Chargers a 3-2 lead.
Sallee added an important insurance run in the bottom of the seventh inning on a solo home run to left center, his second home run of the season, and closer Zane Barnhart struck out three batters in two scoreless innings of work to earn his sixth save of the season and secure the victory.
Barnhart took the reins from junior Will Gifford after an impressive start, as Gifford went seven innings with four strikeouts, two walks and just two earned runs conceded to pick up his sixth victory of the season.
Sallee went 2 for 2 to lead the Chargers at the plate, while Aidan Brewer chipped in a single and three stolen bases as well for the Chargers offensively.
The victory is a key one for Hillsdale, which improves to 20-25 overall and 12-17 in conference play. The Chargers need to win all four games against the Pioneers this weekend and get help elsewhere to extend their season by qualifying for the G-MAC Tournament at Prasco Park next weekend.
The second game of today's doubleheader was suspended after two innings with Malone leading 1-0 due to worsening rain. The Chargers will pick that game up at 11 a.m. on Saturday, looking to finish both that contest and both halves of the doubleheader originally scheduled for that day as well.
Photo by Gwen Buchhop