The Hillsdale College baseball team got off to decent starts in both games of a doubleheader at Walsh on Thursday, but couldn't hold the lead as the Cavaliers came back to beat the Chargers twice to kick off the final series of the 2024 regular season.
Hillsdale scored in the top of the first inning to get an early advantage in both games, and held the lead through three and a half complete or more in both contests. Will Shannon gave the Chargers the advantage in the opener with a solo home run, his 15th of the season, in the top of the first inning, and Hillsdale took a 3-1 edge in the top of the fourth on a RBI single by Joe Hardenbergh, and a sacrifice fly by Tyler Turner.
Things fell apart in the bottom of the fourth for the Chargers, as back-to-back errors to lead off the inning allowed Walsh to plate four unearned runs and pull ahead for good. The Cavaliers tacked on two insurance runs in the seventh and one in the eighth inning to pull away. Hillsdale got baserunners in each of the next four innings but couldn't take advantage as Walsh seized control and never gave it back.
Zak Kent was 2 for 4 with a double to lead the Chargers, who finished with six hits in the contest, at the plate. Starter Tommy MacLean took the loss, striking out two, walking two and giving up just one earned run in five innings, but was undone by four Hillsdale errors in the game. Devin Murray struck out three in two innings of relief for Hillsdale, and Kolin Endres pitched an inning of relief as well.
The start was even better for Hillsdale in the nightcap, as Jaekob Sallee once again got the Chargers out in front in the top of the first with a RBI single, then helped Hillsdale build its lead in his next at bat in the top of the third with a two-run double. Kent added a RBI single and Shannon a sacrifice fly in the top of the fouth, and Hillsdale entered the bottom of the fifth inning cruising with a 5-0 lead and just nine outs away from the victory.
Just like the first game, however, one bad inning caused everything to unravel for the Chargers. Thirteen runners reached base for the Cavaliers in the bottom of the fifth as Walsh scored all nine of its runs in the game on six hits in the frame. That shocking inning flipped a 5-0 Hillsdale lead into a 9-5 deficit, changing the complexion of the game in a short amount of time.
Hillsdale refused to go quietly. Down to its final out in the bottom of the seventh, Evan Fauquher hit a two-run single that scored Hardernbergh and Will Millard and brought the tying run to the plate. The Chargers, however, couldn't complete the comeback, falling 9-7 in the end.
Fauquer, Sallee and Kent each finished with two hits to lead Hillsdale at the plate, with Sallee and Kent each chipping in a double and Hardenbergh adding a double as well. On the mound, freshman Luke Miller had one of his best starts of the season for the Chargers, striking out six, walking two and giving up two earned runs in four and a third innings. Chad Stevens took the loss in relief for Hillsdale, while Logan McLaughlin finished the game on the mound for the Chargers.
The losses drop Hillsdale to 20-27 overall, 14-16 in G-MAC play, and turn Friday's final regular-season doubleheader into a do-or-die moment for the Chargers. Hillsdale still has a good chance to make the 2024 G-MAC Tournament at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio next week if it can take two from Walsh tomorrow and force the series split, but a split of the doubleheader will leave Hillsdale's fate in the hands of other teams, and another sweep by the Cavaliers will all but end the Chargers' season. Hillsdale will be ready for a playoff-like atmosphere on Friday.
Photo by Steve George