The Hillsdale College baseball team kicked off a critical conference series on the road on Saturday in the best way possible, taking two from host Findlay to strengthen its grip on third place in the G-MAC standings.
Hillsdale rode an offensive explosion to victory in the nine inning opener, jumping out to a 12-0 lead through four and a half innings and holding off a furious late rally by Findlay in a 12-8 victory.
Rocco Tenuta got Hillsdale a lead in the top of the first on a RBI single, and Hillsdale plated 11 runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings to take what turned out to be an insurmountable lead over the Oilers.
Augie Hutchison hit a pair of two run singles in back to back innings for four total RBIs,
Billy Porotsky added a RBI single and
Zak Kent chipped in a two-run triple to help the Chargers build the lead.
Findlay made things interesting late with a pair of three run innings in the sixth and eighth while Hillsdale's bats fell silent, but ultimately the early damage done was too much for the Oilers to overcome.
Patrick MacLean pitched a scoreless, hitless final inning with one strikeout in a non-save situation to seal the victory, while starter
Daniel Higdon (4-3) earned the win with another solid performance on the mound, going five and a third innings with six strikeouts and four walks.
Winston Delp and
Andrew George each pitched in relief as well for Hillsdale, with George striking out three and walking two in an inning of work.
At the plate,
Zak Kent finished with five hits, including three doubles and a triple, to lead Hillsdale in the victory, while Rocco Tenura went 4 for 5,
Will Lehman chipped in a pair of singles and
Aaron Jasiak added a triple as well.
In the nightcap, Hillsdale got a stellar start from freshman
Gibson Cary (2-2), who gave up just one run in six and two-thirds innings of work to help the Chargers sweep the day with a 4-1 victory. Cary struck out three, walked two and scattered six hits in the start, and
Hayden Hoffpauir earned his second save of the season, finishing the contest by retiring both of the batters he faced.
Hillsdale scored all four of its runs in the contest in the top of the fourth inning, jump-started by a leadoff double from
Augie Hutchison.
Will Lehman followed him with a single through the left side to give the Chargers the lead, and
Billy Porotsky later added a RBI single to score Lehman.
Jake Figman finished the critical inning for the Chargers with a two-run double that gave Hillsdale a substantial lead that would hold up the rest of the way.
Both Millard and Porotsky went 2 for 2 to lead the Chargers at the plate in the win.
Hillsdale is now 19-16 overall, 12-6 in G-MAC play, with a three-game lead over Lake Erie for the third spot in the G-MAC North Division behind leader Northwood and second-place Ashland. The Chargers will look to extend their advantage tomorrow with a strong finish to the four-game series with Findlay, with another doubleheader set for 1 p.m.
Photo by Reva Ludwig
