The Parkside baseball team traveled to Hillsdale, Mich. for a doubleheader Wednesday afternoon, but dropped both games after being outscored 23-4. With the results, the Rangers move back under .500 on the year with a 4-5 overall record.
 
GAME 1: Hillsdale 12, Parkside 3
The Green & White were able to jump out in front in the first inning, after graduate student Casey Oliver scored on a wild pitch and junior Dominic Esposito drove in junior Hunter Weddel to take a 2-0 lead. Hillsdale responded right away in the bottom half with a bases clearing single that gave them a 3-2 lead. The scoring continued in the top of the second when freshman Bryce Brogni hit a sac-fly to center field to tie the game up at 3-3. The Chargers grabbed the lead back in their half of the third in a four-hit, four-run inning that gave them a 7-3 lead. They tacked on five more throughout the final four innings, and the Rangers saw only three runners on base during that time.
 
Sophomore Noah Tyrrell impressed in game one, going 2-for-2 with a walk and a run scored. The other Rangers to register a hit were Weddel, junior Carlos Arteaga, and junior Garrett LaBreche. Sophomore Daniel Balzhiser started game one, but was replaced by senior Ricky West in the second inning. West pitched three innings, and was credited with the loss.
 
GAME 2: Hillsdale 11, Parkside 1
Parkside was once again able to get on the board first after Oliver again scored on a wild pitch. Unfortunately, the Rangers weren't able to hold on to that lead very long when Hillsdale put together a six-hit, seven-run first inning that included three Parkside errors. The Green & White were unable to get the bats going to amount a comeback, only registering three hits for the remainder of the game.
 
No Rangers had multiple hits in game two, but Weddel, LaBreche, Tyrell, and Brogni had hits in the contest. Freshman Caden Bronkhorst got the start in game one, but was unable to finish the first inning after a tough outing. Redshirt-junior Jake Macaluso and sophomore Matt Helwig each pitched a scoreless inning in relief.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Parkside will round out their ten-games in seven day stretch with back-to-back doubleheaders at Purdue Northwest on March 14-15. Following, the team will travel to Davenport for their GLIAC-opening series, with the first of four games starting on Friday, March 20 at 2 p.m.