Up until this weekend, Hillsdale College sophomore baseball pitcher Paul Brophy had encountered just about every kind of bad beat in an 0-5 start to the season that didn't come close to doing justice to how well he was pitching.

On Friday, however, results finally caught up to Brophy's quality, and the Eckley, Colorado native put together one of the most impressive performances by a Charger pitcher this season.

Brophy shut down the undisputed best offense in the G-MAC across seven innings on the road in a 9-0 game two victory over Trevecca Nazarene, the fifth-ranked team NCAA Division II, helping the Chargers to split Friday's doubleheader and give themselves a chance to play for a series victory on Saturday.

The sophomore gave up just four hits and no runs in a complete game performance, striking out four batters and walking four to earn the first shutout of his career, with his team playing stellar defense behind him to earn the victory. It's the first time Trevecca has been shut out this season, as the Trojans had yet to score fewer than three runs in a contest and had 12 games of double-digit runs in 25 outings entering Brophy's start.

Brophy got plenty of run support from the Charger offense, which plated seven runs in the first two innings to take a decisive early lead. Sophomore Aidan Brewer went 3 for 4 and just missed becoming the second Charger this season to hit for the cycle, finishing with a double, a RBI triple and a three-run home run to lead Hillsdale at the plate in the victory.

Joe Hardenbergh added a two-run home run as well for the Chargers, Cody Kanclerz chipped in a two-run double and Lewis Beals added a RBI single as well.

Hillsdale threatened to take both halves of the doubleheader on Friday, with a furious late rally in the first game of the day coming up short in a 12-8 loss. The Chargers plated three runs in the top of the ninth, cutting a seven-run Trevecca lead to four thanks to a RBI single by Jeff Landis and a two-run home run by Steven Strachan III, but ran out of outs.

The Trojans' early 5-0 lead, taken in the bottom of the second inning, gave Trevecca an advantage it wouldn't relinquish, though not for lack of effort by Hillsdale. The Chargers gave chase for the rest of the game, getting a solo home run from Brewer in the top of the third and three runs on two bases-loaded walks and a sacrifice fly to cut Trevecca's lead to 5-4, and, after the Trojans tacked on a run in the bottom of the fourth, got a RBI single from Nick Stepke to cut the lead back to 6-5.

But Trevecca plated four runs in the sixth inning and two more in the eighth to build a lead the Chargers couldn't overcome. Brewer and Strachan each went 3 for 5 to lead Hillsdale at the plate, while Hardenbergh chipped in two hits, including a double.

On the mound, Drew Olssen made his first appearance of the season for the Chargers, striking out one and walking one in a scoreless inning of work. If Olssen can get back to full health, it would be a huge boost to Hillsdale's staff.

Logan Simon took the loss in relief for Hillsdale, pitching four innings and striking out four, walking two and giving up four earned runs. Dillon Manion and Nate Waligora also appeared for the Chargers in the loss.

Hillsdale improves to 11-13 overall and 5-5 in G-MAC play, while handing Trevecca just its fifth loss of the season. The Chargers wrap up the weekend series on Saturday with a doubleheader against the Trojans beginning at 1 p.m. with a chance to hold serve in the G-MAC with a split and possibly catapault themselves into the title race with two more victories. 

Photo by Gwen Buchhop