FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.—The Hobart baseball team opened the 2026 season with a doubleheader sweep of Hanover College at Armstrong-Shelley Stadium. The Statesmen won Game 1 going away 11-3 and took Game 2 5-3.
 
Hobart pounded out 16 hits across the two, seven-inning games. Junior Sean Garvin had the hot bat, going 4-for-6 with a home run and three RBIs.
 
GAME 1: Hobart 11, Hanover 3
The Statesmen used a decisive five-run third inning to set a course to victory in their season opener for the first time since 1995.
 
With the game tied at 1 in the third inning, Hobart capitalized on a Hanover error, seizing control of the game with timely hits. Junior Jack Byrnes reached on an error to start the inning. Senior Christian Petry singles and first-year Jack O'Neil walked to load the bases. Then junior Connor O'Neil delivered a two-run single to left. Senior Will Jones added a sacrifice fly and first-year Quinn Dashefsky added a two-run singles, extending the lead to 6-1 by the end of the inning.
 
Hobart kept up the pressure in the fifth inning, scoring four more runs. Connor O'Neil doubled and scored on a single by Connor Schmiedlin. Petry's double plated two more runs, pushing Hobart's lead to 10-2.
 
Senior Teck Nash delivered a strong performance on the mound for Hobart, pitching five innings with six hits and two unearned runs allowed, striking out four without issuing a walk.
 
GAME 2: Hobart 5, Hanover 3
The Statesmen pounced on the Panthers in the night cap and held on for the two-run win. Hobart scored all five of its runs in the first two innings.
 
In the first inning, Petry drew a walk and Sean Garvin smashed a towering homer to right field, giving Hobart an early 2-0 advantage.
 
The momentum carried into the second inning for the Statesmen. Singles by Aidan Davenport and Cole Conte, followed by senior Isaiah Pinto's walk, loaded the bases. Sophomore Jackson Rucker then delivered a double to left center, driving in two runs. Garvin was hit by a pitch to push across another run, stretching Hobart's lead to 5-0.
 
Hanover struck back with two runs in the third inning and another in the fourth to trim the Statesmen lead to two.
 
Junior Charlie Forrest came on in relief to pitch 2 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out three to earn the win. Senior Max Friedlander struck out two and allowed no hits in the seventh to get the save.
 
Up next, Hobart (2-0) will face the Methodist (2-1) at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, in Fayetteville, North Carolina.