Box Score: Hillsdale 1, Cedarville 0
For just the second time in school history, the Hillsdale College softball team has won back-to-back postseason games.
The Chargers moved on in the winners' bracket with a dramatic 1-0 win over top-seeded Cedarville University in Xenia, Ohio. Hillsdale will next play at 1 p.m. Friday against the winner of the Ohio Dominican-Kentucky Wesleyan game. If Hillsdale wins that game, it will advance to Saturday's championship day.
Freshman pitcher Erin Hunt was incredible once again, throwing a two-hit shutout, striking out 10 batters in recording her 17th victory of the season. She pitched tough, moving the ball around the strike zone effectively throughout the game. Cedarville's second hit came with two outs in the seventh.
Another freshman, Emma Johnson, was right in the middle of a game-deciding play. Johnson went into the game as a pinch hitter in the fifth, and hit a single through the left side, scoring sophomore Victoria Addis for the game's only run. Addis got on with a double, then advanced to third on a groundout by Sydney San Juan.
Sam Catron, Madison Rathbun and Natalie Walters all had hits in the victory.
Box Score: Hillsdale 8, Trevecca Nazarene 0
The Hillsdale College softball team didn't wait long to make a statement in its first-ever appearance at the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament.
Freshman pitcher Erin Hunt threw a three-hit shutout and the Chargers pounded out 10 hits in an 8-0 victory over Trevecca Nazarene University in a first-round tournament matchup Thursday morning in Xenia, Ohio.
Hillsdale, 21-14 on the season, advances to take on top-seeded Cedarville later in the day Thursday.
Anytime there's a 4-5 matchup in a tournament, it figures to be a compelling one. The Trojans came into the game as the G-MAC's best hitting team, while Hillsdale's team earned run average of 2.45 led the G-MAC during the regular season. And as is sometimes the case, the good pitching beat the good hitting.
Hunt was dominant, striking out 12 batters in just six innings of work. She worked both corners effectively, and overpowered hitters with her speed. Her 12 Ks were the second-most she's had in a game during her outstanding season.
She got plenty of support from the Hillsdale bats. Junior Jessica Taylor had the biggest blast of the game, belting a three-run home run in the fourth inning that broke it open. Her towering home run was the first of her career and doubled Hillsdale's lead from 3-0 to 6-0.
Junior Katie Kish raised her batting average to .500 for the season by going 2-for-2 with two runs scored a walk, a run batted in and a sacrifice fly. Kish and sophomore Victoria Addis both doubled in the win.
The game ended via NCAA run rule when freshman Madison Stoner's sacrifice fly in the sixth scored freshman Emma Johnson from third, giving the Chargers an eight-run lead past the fifth inning.