The Hillsdale College baseball team couldn't hold a 4-1 lead through five innings, as host Wayne State's bats woke up from the sixth inning on to foil the Chargers' bid to upset the 24th-ranked team in the nation a second time this season in a 13-8 road loss on Tuesday.

Hillsdale jumped out to an early lead on a RBI single by Tyler Sowers in the first inning, then added to its edge with solo home runs by Billy Porotsky in the second, Gaard Swenson in the fifth and Aaron Jasiak in the sixth to lead by as much as 5-1 in the top of the sixth. Nolan Coppens also added a RBI single in the fifth as well.

The dam broke for the Chargers in the bottom of the sixth, as Wayne State used a grand slam to plate six runs and overtake the Chargers on the scoreboard, 7-6. The Warriors stayed hot with six more runs in the seventh and eighth innings to pull away. Down by eight runs, Hillsdale made a last-ditch comeback bid in the ninth, as Jake Figman hit a fourth Charger home run on the day and a three-run shot with one out to cut the deficit to 13-8. But Wayne State held on, striking out the next two batters to seal the victory.

Gaard Swenson was 2 for 4 with a double and a home run to lead the Chargers offense, while Nolan Coppens was 2 for 4 with a double and Sowers finished with two hits as well. Six of Hillsdale's 10 hits were for extra bases in the loss.

Jeff Klominek pitched four innings on one hit baseball to start for the Chargers, with three strikeouts and six walks, to get Hillsdale to the fifth with a lead. Isaac Scavarda (1-2) took the loss in relief for Hillsdale, pitching two innings, and Nate Albanese and Collin Tobin pitched in relief as well for the Chargers.

Nine walks and three hit batters amplified the damage done by Wayne State's 13 hits in the loss.

Hillsdale is now 18-23 overall and heads into a critical weekend series in the G-MAC. The Chargers host Tiffin for four games, Hillsdale's final home contests of the season, looking to end Tiffin's hopes of overtaking the Chargers in the standings and securing a G-MAC Tourney berth. The first of those four meetings with be a single nine-inning contest on Friday at 4 p.m.