The Hillsdale College baseball team couldn't overcome deep early deficits in a pair of losses at Northwood on Monday.

The Timberwolves scored 15 of their 17 runs in the first three innings of both doubleheaders, jumping out to massive leads that held up in 8-3 and 9-5 victories for Northwood.

All eight of Northwood's runs in the Timberwolves' 8-3 victory in the first game came in the bottom of the first inning, as Hillsdale couldn't get out of an early jam before suffering a fatal blow.

Hillsdale made a push to rally, holding Northwood scoreless over the next five innings. The Chargers loaded the bases in the fourth and fifth innings, with Billy Porotsky drawing a bases-loaded walk to get Hillsdale on the board in the top of the fourth and Jake Figman and Tyler Turner each walking in a run in the fifth as well, but Hillsdale was unable to get the game-breaking hit it needed to really close the gap in either inning as the Timberwolves held on.

Gaard Swenson was 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored to lead Hillsdale at the plate in the opener, and Rocco Tenuta and Aaron Jasiak each added two hits as well.

Patrick MacLean pitched three and a third innings of relief of starter Jeff Klominek (1-3) and stopped the bleeding in the first inning for the Chargers, and Collin Lange pitched two scoreless innings of relief as well.

In the nightcap, Northwood pushed seven runs across in the second and third innings to once again take a massive early lead. Hillsdale battled back into the game with five runs in the top of the seventh on five hits, taking advantage of a Timberwolves error and stringing together a RBI single from Billy Porotsky, a two run double from Aaron Jasiak, a groundout from Gaard Swenson that drove in a run, and a RBI single from Rocco Tenuta. 

Northwood stopped the Hillsdale rally short of tying up the game, however, and the Timberwolves added two insurance runs in the eighth and ninth while sitting the Chargers down in order for six straight outs to secure the 9-5 victory. 

Redshirt freshman Carson Tucker went 3 for 4 to lead Hillsdale at the plate in just his sixth start of the season, while Tenuta added his RBI single and a stolen base.

Logan McLaughlin (1-2) took the loss for Hillsdale, pitching three innings, while Hayden Hoffpauir added three and two-thirds innings of relief with two strikeouts and Josh Novak finished the game, striking out three of the seven batters he faced.

Hillsdale is now 13-17 overall and drops to fourth in the G-MAC North Division behind Northwood at 8-8 overall. The Chargers travel to Lake Erie on Saturday and Sunday for an important G-MAC North Divsion series, but first make the trip up to Davenport on Wednesday for a midweek contest against a GLIAC foe with a start time of 6 p.m.