The Hillsdale College baseball team hung tough against the 15th-ranked team in the nation in the ABCA poll, but couldn't overcome a bad inning in a 10-3 loss at Davenport on Tuesday night.

Dipping out of conference play to take on the nationally-ranked Panthers in a midweek contest, the Chargers took an early 1-0 lead on a leadoff home run by freshman Gaard Swenson to open the game, and trailed just 2-1 entering the sixth inning.

It was in that frame, however, that the Panthers put the game away, jumping on the Chargers for seven runs to turn a close contest into a 9-1 edge. 

Hillsdale took advantage of a pitcher with control issues to cut the deficit to 10-3 in the ninth inning, but couldn't get any closer in the end.

The Chargers did have early momentum thanks to Swenson's home run, and, even after Davenport evened things up, had runners in scoring position with a chance to retake the lead in the top of the third and top of the fifth innings.

Billy Porotsky went 2 for 3 at the plate to lead the Chargers, who finished with seven hits, and Rocco Tenuta added a pair of singles as well.

In a midweek game, Hillsdale leaned heavily on its bullpen coming off a strenuous weekend for its starters. Senior Drew Erdei got the start and put in a strong performance, going four innings with a strikeout and a walk, four hits and just one earned run conceded. 

Freshman Collin Lange (0-1) took the loss, striking out two of the five batters he faced but giving up the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fifth. Winston Delp, Andrew George, Hayden Hoffpauir and Aaron Jasiak all pitched in relief, with Jasiak striking out three batters in the eighth inning.

Hillsdale is now 21-21 overall and heads back into G-MAC play for a critical series with just two weeks left in the regular season. The Chargers will play at Tiffin for four games on Saturday and Sunday, with a chance to potentially lock up a G-MAC Tournament berth if Hillsdale can win the series. The opener is on Saturday at 1 p.m.