The Hillsdale College baseball team was forced to settle for a series split with visiting Ashland after falling to the Eagles 6-1 in the series finale on Saturday, but the Chargers will still enter next week's G-MAC Tournament at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio with momentum after taking two from one of the conference's top teams to end the regular season.

After taking two of the first three contests from the Eagles on Thursday and Friday, Hillsdale battled with Ashland on Senior Day, but couldn't overcome an early 3-0 deficit. The Chargers got their only run in the contest in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a leadoff double by Tyler Turner, who reached third on a groundout by Will Lehman and scored on a sacrifice bunt by Gaard Swenson to cut the deficit to 3-1. Hillsdale drew two walks in the bottom of the fifth but couldn't generate another run to get closer, and went down 1-2-3 in the sixth inning before Ashland pulled away with three runs in the top of the seventh.

Hillsdale strung together two hits in the bottom of the eighth on a double by senior John Hunter and a single by Rocco Tenuta, loading the bases with one out, but the Chargers weren't able to get the baserunners home and close the gap. 

Senior Drew Erdei (1-0) got the start for Hillsdale in the final home contest of his career and went four innings, giving up three earned runs. The Chargers used a different reliever in each of the final five innings, with Logan McLaughlin, senior Andrew George and Aaron Jasiak each pitching a scoreless inning and recording a strikeout for Hillsdale.

Five of Hillsdale's seven seniors saw action in the contest, with Erdei, Hunter, George, Zak Kent and Kaden Nowak all making appearances in the final home game of the season. The only two Chargers seniors who didn't play were Augie Hutchison, who saw extensive action in Hillsdale's first three games of the series, and pitcher Brandon Scott, who went five innings for the Chargers in a start on Friday.

Hillsdale finishes the regular season 24-26 overall, but the Chargers' 17-15 record ensures Hillsdale the five seed in the opening round of the G-MAC Tournament this coming Wednesday. Hillsdale will take on fourth-seeded Findlay, who split with the Chargers on the road earlier in the season. The Chargers may be seeded in the bottom half of the playoff field, but Hillsdale is a dangerous dark horse in the tourney as the only team in the G-MAC to split series with both G-MAC regular season champion Northwood and the G-MAC runner-up, Ashland.