Game 1 box score: HC 13, Lourdes 5
Game 2 box score: HC 14, Lourdes 6
Junior Sarah Klopfer had about as dominant of a day as you can have, both pitching and hitting on a dark, drizzly Tuesday afternoon.
Klopfer improved her pitching record to 6-1 on the season, winning both ends of a non-conference doubleheader by scores of 13-5 and 14-6 over the Lourdes University Grey Wolves at Johnny WIlliams Field. The Chargers are now 11-13 overall and head to Ashland for a GLIAC twinbill Wednesday afternoon.
Klopfer got the start in game 1 and got plenty of run support. The Chargers scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning of the opener, springing the team to a 5-2 lead after one frame. Hillsdale scored at least one run in every inning, and the team knocked out 16 hits in the five-inning, run-rule affair.
Sophomore Bekah Kastning belted two triples among her four hits in the first game. She drove in a season-high 3 runs, scoring twice while going 4-for-4 from the plate.
Five other players - Ainsley Ellison, Jessica Taylor, Melissa Felkey, Cassie Asselta and Julia Kosco - each had two hits in the game 1 victory. Felkey drove in two runs, including the game-ender in the bottom of the fifth. Asselta had two doubles and drove in two runs, while Ellison opened the game with an off-the-fence double, and scored three runs.
In game 2, Klopfer tied a school record with six runs batted in as part of a career performance. She was 4-for-4, highlighted by a 3-run home run in the first inning. She also produced two singles and a two-run double.
Despite the lopsided final score, things looked precarious for the Chargers. The overcast conditions made the sky darker than usual, and Lourdes took a 6-3 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth inning. The likelihood of the game being called after five full innings due to darkness was very reasonable, meaning Hillsdale had to start producing runs if it hoped to gain a sweep. Turned out, the game was called due to the same eight-run rule that finished off game 1.
Junior Danielle Garceau lined a two-out single up the middle scoring Klopfer to make it a 6-5 game in the fourth inning. One batter later, freshman Kelsey Gockman smashed her first career home run, a three-run rainbow to left field, to put Hillsdale in the lead for the first time, 8-6.
The Chargers piled up six more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Klopfer's double scored Kastning and senior Kate Ardrey. After another RBI by Asselta, Garceau ended the game with a two-run homer to left, also the first round-tripper of her career.
Garceau went 3-for-4 with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored, while Ardrey was 2-for-3 with 3 runs scored.