After a frustrating start offensively to Monday's non-conference doubleheader against host Davenport, the Hillsdale College softball team's bats broke through in a big way in the nightcap, pounding out 12 runs to split with the Panthers.
Coming off a 3-2 loss in the first game that saw the Chargers struggle to convert with runners in scoring position, Hillsdale took full advantage of a bases-loaded situation to start off the second game, with junior Grace Wallner smashing a grand slam over the left-center field fence to stake a 4-0 lead for the Chargers.
After Davenport tied the game at four-apiece with a big second inning, Hillsdale retook the lead on a RBI groundout from junior McKenna Eichholz that scored sophomore Emma Vis in the top of the third, then blew the game open with six runs in the top of the fourth inning. After freshman Taylor Lewis led off the inning with a single, fellow freshman Maggie Olaveson continued an impressive performance on the day with a RBI double. In the next at-bat, sophomore Ashley Strick hit her fourth home run of the season to tack two more runs on the board and take an 8-4 advantage.
The Chargers would go on to add three more runs in the top of the fourth, plating one on a fielding error and adding a RBI single by Wallner and a RBI double by freshman Anna Chellman as well. Junior Hailey Holtman added a RBI single in the top of the sixth for insurance as two late runs by the Panthers weren't nearly enough to close the gap.
Wallner finished the contest 3 for 5 with a double, a home run and five RBIs to lead the Chargers at the plate, while Holtman, Lewis and Olaveson each added multiple hits and Jenna Cantalupo chipped in a double as well.
Hillsdale used all four of its pitchers in the victory, with Joni Russell picking up her 12th win of the season in five innings of relief, striking out seven, walking two and giving up two earned runs. Vis got the start for the Chargers and both freshman Mackenzi Maxson and junior Erin Kapteyn also pitched in relief.
The Chargers' success at the plate in the nightcap was a welcome improvement from the first game, where Hillsdale stranded nine batters in a tough 3-2 loss to the Panthers. Hillsdale never led in the contest but rallied from a 1-0 deficit in the bottom of the first inning to tie the game on a Davenport error in the top of the third, and, when the Panthers retook the lead in the bottom of the inning, knotted the game back up at two runs apiece in the top of the fourth on a home run by Olaveson.
While Hillsdale was able to keep the game close, the Chargers also missed chances to break the contest open. Hillsdale had the bases loaded with one out in the top of the third and a chance to score multiple runs, not just one, but couldn't capitalize, and also stranded runners at second and third in the top of the fifth, as well as failing to take advantage of runners at the corners with no outs in the top of the sixth.
Davenport manufactured a run with two outs to break the tie in the bottom of the sixth inning, and while Hillsdale was able to get two on in the top of the seventh, it once again couldn't find the timely hit it needed to pull ahead or extend the game.
Olaveson was 2 for 3 at the plate with a double and a home run for the Chargers, and Eichholz added a double as well. Kapteyn took the loss in relief for Hillsdale, striking out three, walking none and giving up just the one unearned run in two and a third innings of work. Maxson got the start for Hillsdale, striking out two and walking one in two innings, and Vis pitched an inning and two-thirds of relief, striking out two and walking two.
Hillsdale (22-15, 8-2 G-MAC) returns to G-MAC play on Friday as it travels south to Tennessee and Kentucky, starting with a critical doubleheader against fellow G-MAC title contender Trevecca Nazarene in Nashville on Friday. With both teams sitting at 8-2, two games back of unbeaten Ohio Dominican, neither can afford to get swept and stay in the forefront of the title race, making Friday's contests important ones for both squads.
Photo Courtesy of Tusculum Athletics