The Hillsdale College softball team put an 0-4 start to its Florida trip in the rearview mirror on Sunday at the Auburndale Softball Complex, sweeping past Upper Iowa and Post to double its win total for the season in one fell swoop.
The Chargers used a four-run sixth inning to break a 4-4 tie and take an 8-4 victory over Upper Iowa in their opener on the day.
Erin Gordon, Sarah Wojcik and Renee Bielawa all singled for Hillsdale in the sixth inning to drive in runs, with Bielawa scoring both Wojcik and Gordon after Gordon scored Madison Stoner, and Wojcik scored Emma Johnson.
The Chargers jumped out to an early lead in the contest thanks to a two-run home run by Sam Catron in the first inning, then made it 3-0 with a single by Johnson in the fourth inning.
The Peacocks plated four runs in the top of the fifth inning to rally and take a 4-3 lead, but Hillsdale tied the game when Wojcik scored on an error in the bottom of the inning.
Johnson and Wojcik were both 2 for 3 to lead Hillsdale at the plate, and Catron also chipped in two hits.
Dana Weidinger went the distance for the Chargers on the mound to earn her second win of the season, striking out four and walking two in seven innings while conceding eight hits and four earned runs.
In the second game, Hillsdale handed Post University its first loss of the season in a 5-2 victory, using late insurance runs in the sixth and seventh innings to pull away.
The Chargers outhit the Eagles 14-7 on the game but left 12 runners stranded to help keep the game close.
Hillsdale got a RBI single from Johnson in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead, then added another run in the top of the second on a RBI single from Bielawa and in the third on a RBI single from Kasidy Carson.
Post plated a run apiece in the second and third to make Hillsdale's lead a narrow one-run margin, but the Chargers got some breathing room in the sixth thanks to an RBI single from Catron, and Bielawa added another insurance run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly to drive in Carson.
Julia Sayles had an excellent game on the mound for the Chargers, going all seven innings with three strikeouts and one walk, and conceding seven hits and one earned run.
Stoner was 4 for 4 at the plate to lead Hillsdale offensively, Bielawa went 3 for 4 with the two RBIs as well, and Elaine Townley added two singles.
Hillsdale (3-11) has an off day on Monday but will look to keep the momentum going when it gets back on the field on Tuesday with games against No. 24 Southern Indiana and a tough St. Cloud State squad at the DiamondPlex in Winter Haven, FL as The Spring Games continue.
Photo: Camryn Olson