The Hillsdale College softball team may be over a thousand miles away from their home field, but so far down in Florida the Chargers look like they're in their element.
Hillsdale followed up an impressive sweep on day one of their annual Spring Break trip with a hard-earned split against two tough Midwest Regional squads on Sunday in the Spring Games event, held this year at the Sleepy Hollow Sports Center in Leesburg, Florida.
The Chargers opened with a big victory over Wayne State in the afternoon, winning 9-4 despite being out hits 11-7 by the Warriors. While Hillsdale had fewer hits in the game, the base hits the Chargers did get Hillsdale used to maximum effect, punishing two Warriors errors and multiple base on balls with five runs in the first two innings and building a 6-0 lead before Wayne State got on the board.
In the top of the first inning, Hillsdale got two runners on with two outs and took advantage of a dropped fly ball in the outfied to plate both runners and take the early edge. The Chargers added to their lead in the top of the second, again getting two runners on with two outs and taking advantage of another error to score a third run. Senior Jenna Cantalupo added to the damage in the next at bad, hitting a double to left field that scored two more runs.
Trailing 6-0, Wayne State scored three runs in the fourth and fifth innings to get back in the game, but Hillsdale shut the door in the bottom of the seventh, with a RBI double from Katie Matzat and a two-run double from Taylor Lewis in back-to-back at bats to give Hillsdale a 9-3 lead with one half-inning to play. The Warriors were able to score a run in the bottom of the seventh and get two more baserunners, but relief pitcher Mackenzi Maxson was able to finish off the victory for the Chargers.
Hailey Holtman went 2 for 4 at the plate for the Chargers in the victory, and Emma Vis picked up the win on the mound, striking out two and walking two in six innings of work.
Hillsdale entered the nightcap with momentum and put a scare into their toughest opponent this season to date, eighth-ranked Indianapolis, before bowing out in a 2-0 defeat. The contest was a true pitchers duel, with Indianapolis' Kenzee Smith, a two-time All-American pitcher, throwing a one-hit shutout and Hillsdale sophomore Joni Russell matching Smith with a two-hitter that included six strikeouts and three walks in seven innings.
The deciding moment in the game came in the top of the sixth inning, when a two-out double by Indianapolis' Emily O'Connor scored the go-ahead runs for the Greyhounds. The only two hits Russell surrendered in the game came in the sixth inning, compounded by an error that led to the second run being scored.
Hillsdale got its only hit in the game in the bottom of the sixth, a single by Lewis, and got Lewis to third, but couldn't bring her home. The Chargers also made a push in the bottom of the seventh inning, getting runners at first and second with the tying run at the plate and one out, but couldn't find the hit it needed to pull even and give themselves a chance at the upset.
Hillsdale is now 8-9 but has won three of their last four and their lone loss came to a top-ten ranked team in the nation in a competitive contest. The Chargers will take Monday off before playing two games on Tuesday, first against Midwest Region foe Missouri St.-Louis and then a contest against Molloy from the East Coast.
Photo by Dave Hines