SCHEDULE
Hillsdale College (0-0) vs West Florida (2-0) | Noon Saturday, Feb. 13 | Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium – Dahlonega, GA
Hillsdale College (0-0) vs West Florida (2-0) | 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13 | Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium – Dahlonega, GA
Hillsdale College (0-0) at #2 North Georgia (2-0) | 9 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 14 | Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium – Dahlonega, GA
Hillsdale College (0-0) vs #2 North Georgia (2-0) | 11 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 14 | Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium – Dahlonega, GA
Links
Live stats | Video | Hillsdale Roster | West Florida Roster | North Georgia Roster
Outlook
The Hillsdale College softball team kicks off its long-awaited spring 2021 season with its first contests since the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the Spring 2020 season on March 13, and the Chargers found two strong opponents to open up with.
Hillsdale starts the weekend with a doubleheader against Gulf South Conference power West Florida on Saturday, hosted by the University of North Georgia in Dahlonega, Georgia.
Although West Florida wasn't ranked in the NFCA preseason poll, the Argonauts opened the season by sweeping the 19th-ranked team in Division II on Jan. 30, and have historically been a powerhouse, with four straight NCAA Tournament berths and two Division II World Series appearances in the last four seasons.
West Florida went 7-5 in 2020 before the season was suspended, and return starting pitchers Grace Gilbert and Kelsey Sweatt, who combined for a 2.04 ERA on the mound.
The Argonauts' top returning hitter is Teala Howard, who batted .500 in 12 games in 2020 and led the GSC in batting, runs scored, hits, triples and steals. She's also West Florida's all time leading hitter with a .475 batting average for her career.
The task on Sunday might be even tougher, as Hillsdale takes on the host Nighthawks in a morning doubleheader. North Georgia enters the season ranked second in the nation in the NFCA Division II preseason poll, and opened the season on Feb. 7 with a doubleheader sweep of Montevallo where the Nighthawks didn't concede a single run.
Since officially joining the NCAA in 2008, North Georgia has won five national titles, most recently in 2018, and have never finished worse than second in the Peach Belt Conference standings.
The Nighthawks have an excellent pitching staff headlined by senior Kylee Smith, who went 12-2 in 2020 with a 0.3 ERA and 153 strikeouts in just 15 appearances.
At the plate, watch out for senior outfielder Kaylyn Anthony and sophomore utility player Olivia Sinquefield, who were 1-2 for North Georgia in batting average and hits in 2020, and who combined for 16 extra base hits and 28 RBIs in 27 games.
Hillsdale is led on the mound by stalwart fifth-year senior Dana Weidinger, who enters the season in the top 10 in Hillsdale history for her career in every major pitching statistic, and junior Camryn Olson, who was a breakout star in the 2019 G-MAC tournament title run but who missed all of 2020 recovering from an arm injury.
At the plate, fifth-year senior Sam Catron is healthier than she's been since her freshman year and looked extremely strong in the preseason. Catron is backed by juniors Renee Bielawa and Elaine Townley, who combined to lead the Chargers in nearly every offensive statistic in the abbreviated 2020 season to form the backbone of a solid Charger lineup.