Tiffin University baseball (20-26, 11-17 G-MAC) split their final two home games of the season with Hillsdale Sunday afternoon on senior day. The Dragons won game one 6-4 and lost a heartbreaker in game two 4-3.
Prior to the start of game one, the Dragons recognized their 15 seniors.
Tiffin did all of their damage in the first inning of game one and that's all they would need in the game. The Dragons scored six runs on five hits and Ty Hatfield started the game with a lead off double. The 3-4-5 hitters recorded back-to-back RBI base hits. Andrew Fairbrother and Cal Brazier doubled down the left field line and Logan Swonger had an RBI single.
Later in the inning with two outs and the bases loaded, Swonger scored on a wild pitch and Colin Crisenberry delivered a two-run single.
The Chargers tried to chip away, scoring one run in both the second and third innings. In the third, TU starter Scotty Adelman got a huge inning ending double play to halt any further damage. In the fourth, Adelman worked around a bases loaded no out jam and worked out of it without allowing a run.
Hillsdale again loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth and this time plated two runs. Following a two-run single and the tying run on base, Zach Johnson came on in relief and got out of the inning without allowing any more runs.
Johnson retired nine of the 10 batters he faced in the game to close it out. After recording five hits in the opening inning, the Dragons only had one hit the rest of the game and it was a two-out single by Hatfield in the sixth.
For Johnson, the only batter that reached was the leadoff man in the ninth but he was stranded at first base.
Adelman (W, 6-5) got the win on the mound throwing 4.0 innings. He struck out five and allowed four runs on 10 hits. Johnson recorded his second save of the season throwing the final 3.0 innings and struck out two.
Hatfield was 2-for-3 at the plate and Hilario DeLaPaz drew two walks.
Game two was a pitcher's duel that led to a bunch of zeros being put on the board early. The Dragons struck first in the third inning for one run. With two outs, Griff Cady reached on an infield single and Hatfield scored on an RBI single by Fairbrother.
The Dragons squandered many scoring chances in the first three innings though as they had two runners picked off in the first inning and one base runner picked off in the third inning.
The game remained 1-0 until the seventh. With two outs, senior pinch hitter Nate Adelman came through with a massive two-out RBI double to give the Dragons an insurance run.
The Hillsdale offense had zero life through the first eight innings as TU pitchers Nick Feasel and Mason Brunecz combined to throw 8.0 scoreless innings.
Everything changed in the ninth for the Chargers when the Dragons changed pitchers bringing in closer Trent Hedges. Hillsdale started the inning with three straight hits to load the bases with no outs. Hedges dug deep and recorded back-to-back strikeouts. One of Hillsdale's top hitters then stepped to the plate and smoked a line drive to left center field that was just out of reach of center fielder Colin Crisenberry's glove. The hit turned into a bases clearing triple to put the Chargers on top 3-2. The Chargers then added a huge insurance run that they would need with a double that just got over Logan Swonger's head.
In the ninth, Hillsdale gave Tiffin life. DeLaPaz was hit by a pitch and Grabowski then reached on an error to put the tying run on base and winning run at the plate. Pinch hitter Dylan Ruhe hit a sacrifice fly to the right field warning track to make it 4-3 with two outs and the game ended when Crisenberry went down swinging.
Tiffin won three of the four games in the series, but a four-game sweep would've been huge for the Dragons.
Hedges (L, 2-1) took the loss throwing 0.2 innings allowing four runs on five hits. Feasel got the start and threw 5.0 scoreless innings with six strikeouts. Brunecz tossed 3.0 scoreless innings with two strikeouts and Brett Madison recorded the final out in the ninth.
Hatfield went 2-for-4 at the plate and Cady drew two walks.
