Game 1 box score: Hillsdale 4, McKendree 0
Game 2 box score: Lenoir-Rhyne 9, Hillsdale 1
There was snow in Georgia?
Yep, there was snow in Georgia.
As a result, the Hillsdale College softball team was only able to get in two games during its first weekend of competition in the 2020 season. In games hosted by The University of North Georgia, Hillsdale defeated McKendree 4-0 and lost to Lenoir-Rhyne Sunday in Georgia. The 1-1 Chargers are now off until Feb. 20 when it heads to the Chicagoland area for a weekend set of games inside a dome. Where, presumably, it won't snow.
In Sunday's opener versus the Bearcats, a regional opponent, senior pitcher Dana Weidinger was outstanding, throwing a five-hit shutout to lead her team to the win. Weidinger struck out seven batters and walked just one in a masterful performance. This is one of the earliest dates on the calendar the Chargers have ever started a season, and Weidinger has already displayed top-notch midseason form from inside the pitchers' circle.
Offensively, sophomore Elaine Townley was right in the middle of all of the scoring action for Hillsdale. With the team holding a tenuous 1-0 lead in the sixth inning, she smacked a two-run single that scored Emma Johnson and Carlin MacDonald-Gannon that gave Hillsdale some valuable extra runs. Townley would later score on a wild pitch to finish off the scoring.
Sophomore Renee Bielawa provided the first RBI of the season for Hillsdale with a run-scoring single that brought Townley home for a 1-0 Hillsdale lead.
Townley was 2-for-3 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored. Sydney San Juan and Kasidy Carson also picked up hits in the opener.
The Lenoir-Rhyne Bears scored four runs in the first inning of Sunday's second game to take a big early lead.
San Juan and Madison Rathbun had Hillsdale's two hits, with Rathbun's RBI single scoring Sam Catron for Hillsdale's lone run.
PHOTO: Brad Monastiere