Baseball Loses Pair At Hillsdale

HILLSDALE, MICH. – The Northwood University baseball team dropped a pair of games at Hillsdale Wednesday afternoon (April 27). The Chargers picked up a 5-4 walk-off victory in game one before earning a 13-7 victory in game two.

Northwood falls to 21-19 overall, 11-11 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC). Hillsdale improves to 28-14 overall, 16-8 in the GLIAC.

The Chargers got out to a fast start in game one, plating three runs in the first inning. NU fought back, scoring one in the third and three in the fifth of the seven inning game to take a 4-3 lead. Hillsdale got the final two runs of the game, however, scoring one in the fifth and one more in the seventh to earn the win. The Timberwolves had a runner in scoring position of game one with less than two outs in the top of the seventh but did not score, which was immediately followed by the Chargers getting a two-out hit in the bottom of the inning to take the victory.

Hillsdale out-hit Northwood 13-8 for the game. Both teams committed two errors.

Connor Foley (Bay City, Mich./Western/SVSU) and Miles Hardy (Lake Orion, Mich.) each had two hits to lead the way for Northwood. Richie O'Neil (Wheaton, Ill./College of DuPage) led NU with two RBIs. Kyle Vedrode (Alma, Mich./Muskegon CC) did a solid job out of the pen for the Timberwolves, allowing one run on five hits while striking out six in 4 1/3 innings of work.

Both teams came out hot in game two – the Timberwolves scored two in the top of the first, only to see the Chargers respond with three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. The Chargers plated two in the bottom of the third inning, but NU scored two of their own in the top of the fourth to make the score Hillsdale 5, Northwood 4.

The Chargers made another big stand and responded to a comeback from Northwood over the next couple of innings.  Hillsdale scored five in the bottom of the fourth to get the lead up to six at 10-4. After Northwood got two runs of their own in the top of the fifth, HC came right back and scored three more of their own to make the score 13-6. Northwood got one board last in the contest with by plating a run in the top of the seventh.

Hillsdale held a slim 14-13 edge in hits for the game, but Northwood committed four errors to just one for the Chargers. Hillsdale also had four home runs in the game.

Cody Kuzniczci (Madeira, Ohio/Northern Kentucky) led Northwood in game two by going 4-5 with a run scored and three RBIs. Nick Palmer (Warren, Mich./Cousino) had a home run and two RBIs, while Foley, Grant Bridgewater (Bay City, Mich./Western/Lewis U.) and Nick Barrientos (Zionsville, Ind./Danville Area CC) all had two hits for the Timberwolves.

Northwood will travel to Saginaw Valley State Saturday (April 30) for a GLIAC doubleheader. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.