Schedule
Hillsdale College (3-3) vs #19 Grand Valley State (6-1) | 3 p.m. ET Friday, Feb. 27 | Mountain Dew Park – Marion, IL
Hillsdale College (3-3) vs #19 Grand Valley State (6-1) | 1 p.m. ET Saturday, Feb. 28 | Mountain Dew Park – Marion, IL
Hillsdale College (3-3) vs #19 Grand Valley State (6-1) | 4 p.m. ET Saturday, Feb. 28 | Mountain Dew Park – Marion, IL
Hillsdale College (3-3) vs #19 Grand Valley State (6-1) | 1 p.m. ET Sunday, Feb. 29 | Mountain Dew Park – Marion, IL
 
Links
Hillsdale Roster | GVSU Roster | Hillsdale Stats | GVSU Stats | G-MAC Standings | G-MAC Stats
 
Preview
The Hillsdale College baseball team gets back in action this week after a long lay-off with a tough four game series against one of the top teams in the Midwest Region. The Chargers face 19^th-ranked Grand Valley at a neutral site – Mountain Dew Park in Marion, Illinois – in a matchup with potential postseason implications down the road for both teams.

A 43-win team and NCAA Tournament host in 2025, GVSU came into the season with big expectations and has lived up to them so far, outclassing 2025 G-MAC and Midwest Region champion Northwood in a four game series before sweeping Cedarville in three road contests.

The Lakers' offense has been stellar so far, outscoring opponents 72-24 in seven games. Shortstop Evan Morrison, a 2025 All-Region honoree, is on a historic pace to start 2026, batting .606 with a 1.730 OPS, nine extra base hits and 10 RBIs in seven games. Returning All-GLIAC honoree Jovan Gill has been elite at getting Morrison home, with a team-high 15 RBIs batting third, while JuCo transfer Caleb Estrada Pittsburg St. transfer Jake Skaggs and Hawai'I transfer Will Bowen are also off to strong starts. GVSU returns another All-GLIAC honoree in Ayden VanEnkevort who's also batting above .300 as well so far.

While GVSU's offensive performance has opened eyes around the nation, pitching hasn't been a weak link for the Lakers by any means either. GVSU has a dominant ace in consensus 2025 All-Region honoree Collin Bradley, who's won both his starts with a 0.96 ERA and eight strikeouts to no walks. Junior Owen Avery, a returning starter from 2025, and freshman Jackson Kees also have two strong starts under their belt for GVSU this season. It's unclear who GVSU's fourth starter will be, but Gill is an option as a two-way player, and the Lakers also have Mike Morawski, an 11-game starter in 2024, in their bullpen.

GVSU has several strong relief options to turn to, headlined by SIU-Edwardsville transfer Duncan McLaughlin, who's gone six innings in two appearances and struck out 10 with no walks. Sophomore Ty Uchman and junior JJ Manion each have a save as well for GVSU this season, while Zach Warren is the team's top returning reliever from 2025.

On the other side, Hillsdale is off to a decent start at 3-3 overall and looking to pick up signature wins against a top team in the region that could put them in the at-large conversation down the road if the Chargers can play well in March and April.

After struggling with health in each of the last two seasons, the Chargers are hoping to receive in full the dividends of a youth movement in 2024 and 2025 that saw freshmen and sophomores thrown into critical everyday roles in the lineup.

Many of those players are now juniors with multiple seasons of collegiate baseball under their belt, giving Hillsdale a strong and experienced core to build around in 2026.

Five starters return, including all four infield players, led by returning second-team All-G-MAC second baseman Billy Porotsky, and third-year starters Rocco Tenuta at third base and Aaron Jasiak at shortstop. All three players were major contributors offensively, and to one of the best defenses in program history in 2025, along with returning sophomore first baseman Will Lehman, who tied for the team lead in doubles with 12 and finished second on the squad with 40 RBIs.

In the outfield, Gaard Swenson returns after a strong freshman campaign for the Chargers that included 18 extra base hits, and Hillsdale also looks forward to the healthy return of sophomore Tyler Sowers, who missed the last month of the season with injuries but would have led the Chargers in virtually every hitting category if he'd stayed healthy and kept up the levels of production he had before his injury.

One of the keys early on in 2026 so far has been strong contributions from breakthrough players and newcomers. After a quiet first season, sophomore Jake Figman was named G-MAC North Division Player of the Week earlier this month and looks like one of the team's top bats. Freshman Nolan Coppens, Drew Law and Ryan Wiehe are all off to strong starts for the Chargers as well, while catcher Logan Dichler has earned a spot in the starting lineup and sophomore Carson Tucker has made an impact as an option off the bench offensively.

Hillsdale will look to continue to improve its pitching staff in 2026. Despite significant injury trouble in 2025, the Chargers posted a 5.49 ERA, the team's best mark since 2018.

The Chargers are still dealing with injury availability for several of their top arms into 2026, but Hillsdale is making it work with several players stepping into new roles and finding success. Junior Jacob Pallo is a reliable veteran starter who's heading the staff entering this weekend's series, while fellow junior Logan McLaughlin has been solid since moving into the starting rotation from the bullpen.

Two of Hillsdale's best pitchers so far have been relievers Patrick MacLean and Brenden Smith, who've both excelled in multiple long relief appearance for the Chargers, with ERAs under 1.5.
MacLean was named the G-MAC North Division Pitcher of the week earlier this month. The Chargers also have gotten strong relief appearances from Josh Novak, getting his first real playing time back from injuries that cost him his first two seasons, and Collin Lange. Winston Delp is another important reliever for the Chargers, while youngsters Isaac Scavarda, Jeff Klominek and Nate Albanese are taking on significant roles early in their careers.

Hillsdale is hoping to reinforce its staff throughout the season with players making healthy returns from injuries, including two-year starter Daniel Higdon and key relievers Aaron Jasiak and Hayden Hoffpauir, among others.

Hillsdale and GVSU have a long history of matching up against each other in baseball, as both teams shared a conference from 1975 to 2016 and have matched up repeatedly since Hillsdale moved to the G-MAC. It's a series GVSU has largely controlled, with a 77-20 record in 97 meetings since 1995. The two teams are 3-3 against each other however, since 2019, with Hillsdale winning both meetings in 2024. GVSU won the two teams' only game between each other in 2025, 9-2 on April 9.