Schedule
Hillsdale College (1-2) at Lincoln Memorial (1-1) | 3 p.m. ET Friday, Feb. 6 | Lamar Hennon Field – Harrogate, TN
Hillsdale College (1-2) at Lincoln Memorial (1-1) | 1 p.m. ET Saturday, Feb. 7 | Lamar Hennon Field – Harrogate, TN
Hillsdale College (1-2) at Lincoln Memorial (1-1) | 12 p.m. ET Sunday, Feb. 8 | Lamar Hennon Field – Harrogate, TN
 
Links
Hillsdale Roster | LMU Roster | Hillsdale Stats | LMU Stats | G-MAC Standings | G-MAC Stats
 
Preview
After a long and competitive weekend in Alabama at Montevallo to open the 2026 season, Hillsdale makes another trip south to Tennessee for another three game set against host Lincoln Memorial, beginning on Friday.

The Railsplitters split a doubleheader with a familiar foe for Hillsdale, Cedarville, last weekend to kick off their campaign, and were picked to finish sixth in the South Atlantic Conference preseason poll after going 24-23 and placing ninth in the 13 team league in 2025.

Lincoln Memorial is rebuilding its lineup after losing several of its top hitters from 2025, headlined by graduated All-American Kasten Harvey. The Railsplitters do have some key returners to build around, including talented leadoff man Brooks Hagedorn and DH Alex Kowalski, who was second to Harvey in RBIs last year. Several newcomers played important roles in the opening doubleheader, with freshman shortstop Gabe Gray hitting .556 and first baseman Brady Morse, a Bellarmine transfer, batting .444 with three doubles. Redshirt freshman Peyton Mullannix and sophomore Caleb Jordan also bat high in the order for LMU.

On the mound, the Railsplitters return starters Eli Edds and Jack Santi from last year's squad. Payton Armour, who led LMU with three saves last season, and Edds started the two games against Cedarville, while senior Dylan Maire pitched five innings in the second game and looks like he has starter-level stamina as well. LMU has experienced relievers to call on, headlined by Easton Barnett, who had the team's best ERA with more than three appearances last season and was the first out of the bullpen against Cedarville last weekend.

On the other side, Hillsdale is looking to build off a high-scoring series at Montevallo that saw the Chargers plate 30 runs in three games but return home with a 1-2 record.

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.

Two spots are open in the field for the Chargers, as G-MAC All-Tournament honoree Tyler Turner will battle Jake Figman, Dylan Whitfield, and incoming freshmen for the last outfield spot, and St. Leo transfer Logan Dichler, freshmen Ryan Wiehe and Jack Kilmer, and returning redshirt Robert Matteson will compete for playing time at catcher. In addition, Hillsdale also brings back another promising infielder who saw his 2025 season cut short due to injury in redshirt Carson Tucker, who will push the incumbents hard for playing time.

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 must replace All-G-MAC pitcher Brandon Scott, but return three every day starters in juniors Daniel Higdon and Jacob Pallo and sophomore Gibson Cary, all of whom showed significant promise and won at least four games in 2025. Hillsdale also welcomes back top relief arms Hayden Hoffpauir, Logan McLaughlin, Patrick MacLean and Winston Delp, while Jasiak also is an option on the mound as an effective two-way player for the Chargers. 

Reinforcements are coming to the Hillsdale staff, as several players who missed last season with an injury will look to make an impact this year, including sophomores Luke Miller and Josh Novak, and redshirt freshmen Mana Nicholas-Bublick, Nate Albanese and Brodie Romnek. Hillsdale also welcomes four freshmen pitchers who all will compete for regular spots in the rotation and bullpen as well.
This weekend marks the first-ever meeting between Hillsdale and Lincoln Memorial in baseball. The Chargers have just one past game against a current member of the SAC since 1995, falling to Coker in a neutral site game in 1997 by a score of 7-0.