Baseball

HCAC 2024 Baseball Notebook, Week 5

CARMEL, Ind. – The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) baseball teams competed in week five of the 2024 season.
 
Around the League:
HCAC Baseball Schedule
 
Athletes of the Week:
Hitter of the Week:
Tysen Lipscomb (Wapahani, Ind.) Franklin College | Outfield | Senior - Was a force at the plate for the Grizzlies as they won all four games last week, batting .500 (9-for-18) with three home runs, 11 RBI, three doubles and nine runs scored…opened the week by going 3-for-4 with a home run, 4 RBI and two runs scored in a big win over Wilmington…went 3-for-4 with a home run, 5 RBI, three runs scored and two doubles in an 18-3 win over Trine on Sunday that finished off a weekend sweep.kend series with Albion…had his biggest game of the weekend in game two on Saturday, going 4-for-4 with three runs scored, a grand slam and a career-high 7 RBI.
Pitching Athlete of the Week:
Jacob Moberly (Elizabethtown, Ky.) Transylvania University | Pitcher | Junior - Moberly pitched a complete game to secure the 4 game sweep over New Jersey City. He struckout 7 batters while allowing just one run.

Notable Performances:
  • Griffin Wolf (Carmel, Ind.) Anderson University | Outfield | Sophomore - Griffin Wolf went 5-for-9 with a homer, 3 RBI and 3 runs for the week. He finished the week with a slashline of .556/.600/.889.
  • Carter Knoblauch (New Haven, Ind.) Anderson University | Pitcher | Sophomore - Carter Knoblauch fanned 11 batters in a 9-inning no decision. He walked 0 batters and allowed 3 runs on 7 hits in 9 innings.
  • Justin Maurer (Springfield, Ohio) Bluffton University | First Base | Junior - Maurer helped the Beavers to a 2-1 week, hitting .400 with 9 RBI and 8 runs scored. He slugged 1.000 with 2 home runs, including a grand slam in Bluffton 12-7 win over Chatham on Saturday. Maurer had a .647 on-base percentage thanks to 4 walks and 3 HBP's.
  • Jaden Jaques (New Palestine, Ind.) Bluffton University | Pitcher | Graduate - Jaques went 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA across 4.1 innings in two games of relief. He struck out one and held opponents to a .286 batting average.
  • Connor Gephart (Lima, Ohio) Defiance College | Infield | Sophomore - Connor Gephart continues to swing a hot bat to start the 2024 season and helped guide the Yellow Jackets to the squad's first two victories of the season. In five games, Gephart went 6-for-18 (.333) with seven RBIs and four walks to boost his average to .367 and his on-base percentage to .500 through nine games. In Saturday's opener of a doubleheader, the LCC grad slugged a grand slam during a seven-run fourth inning to boost DC to a 10-6 win. He also added an RBI single in the 5-2 win to finish off the four-game series at Judson.
  • Aiden Behrman (Deshler, Ohio) Defiance College | Pitcher | First Year - Aiden Behrman earned his first career victory in his second career start for the Yellow Jackets. In the first of four games at Judson, he tossed five innings of three-run ball and did not yield a hit over the first three innings of that start. He closed the contest with a pair of strikeouts, allowed three hits, and walked one.
  • Max Fries (Cleves, Ohio) Earlham College | Outfield/Utility | Graduate - Max Fries slashed .538/.667/.692 in four games in Florida for the Quakers. Fries hit two doubles, and drove in seven runs with only two strikeouts.
  • Braeden Lewis (Oshawa, Ont.) Earlham College | Pitcher | Sophomore - Braeden Lewis threw a complete game win over Thiel in a seven-inning run rule. The sophomore righty allowed just one earned run and six hits, while scoring three strikeouts
  • Dylan Sprong (Greenwood, Ind.) Franklin College | Pitcher | Senior - Sprong earned his second win of the year after tossing five shutout innings on Sunday against Trine, scattering four hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
  • Alex Christie (Greenwood, Ind.) Hanover College | Infield | Senior - Christie led the Panthers to a 2-2 overall week going 9-of-16 at the dish with seven RBI and six runs. He posted a team-high four homeruns. In the team's 8-7 loss to Wabash the senior was a triple shy of the cycle going 3-for-5 with three RBI and a run. Christie also finished the week with a team-high .563 batting average.
  • Matthew Alter (Indianapolis, Ind.) Hanover College | Pitcher | Senior - Alter claimed her second victory of the season as he got the start in a 11-8 decision at Wabash. The senior pitched five complete innings with three strikeouts. He allowed just two earned runs on six hits. He finished the week with a 3.60 ERA.
  • Austin Knowles (Nassau, Bahamas) Manchester University | Infield | Senior - Austin Knowles hit .376 as the Spartans picked up two wins in 5 games this week. The senior infielder finished the week with 5 RBI, 2 home runs, and a stolen base.
  • Andrew McGray (Carmel, Ind.) Manchester University | Pitcher/Outfield | Junior - Andrew McGray threw 4.2 innings, allowing just 2 hits with 4 strike outs en route to a 15-7 Manchester victory against Berea.
  • Kade Kline (Terre Haute, Ind.) Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology | Outfield | Junior - Kline finished the week going 10-18 with 9 runs scored for the week including his second five-hit game in just three games. He is just the second player in Rose-Hulman history to record multiple five-hit games. Overall in the week, he totaled a slash link of .556 batting average, .619 on-base percentage, .667 slugging percentage, and a 1.286 OPS.
  • Michael Yager (Park Ridge, Ill.) Rose-Hulman Insitute of Technology | Pitcher | Senior - Yager got the start and earned his first win of the season on Friday. He finished the start going 6 innings of 2-run baseball while striking out three batters in the 12-2 win over Calvin.
  • Trent Youngblood (Louisville, Ky.) Transylvania University | Centerfield/Short Stop | Senior - Youngblood became the all time steals leader in Transy history with his 63rd career steal in the series against New Jersey City. He finished the series 5-11 with 7 walks, 2 doubles, a home run, and scored 6 times, including stealing home.

 
Looking Forward:
HCAC Baseball Standings