The Hillsdale College softball team wrapped up its best regular season in 30 years on Sunday with a competitive split against host Ohio Dominican.
The Chargers rolled to a 7-1 victory in the first game over the Panthers behind another excellent start from senior Dana Weidinger, who improved to 9-1 in G-MAC play and picked up her 18th victory on the year overall. Weidinger pitched her 17th complete game of the year, striking out six, walking two, and conceding just six hits and one earned run.
Offensively, the Chargers took advantage of two ODU miscues and a RBI single by Hailey Holtman to break open a scoreless tie through three innings and plate four runs in the top of the fourth. After the Panthers got a run back in the bottom of the sixth, Sam Catron put the game away with a RBI double in the top of the seventh for the Chargers, and Emma Johnson added a RBI single as well.
Johnson and Madison Stoner each finished with three hits for the Chargers in the victory and Catron added two doubles.
In the nightcap, Hillsdale outhit ODU 10-4 but bad bounces, bad luck and an inability to find the timely hit it needed with runners in scoring position consigned the Chargers to a narrow 3-1 defeat.
The Chargers' lone run came on a solo home run by Catron, her 14th of the season, in the top of the fourth inning, but Hillsdale stranded seven runners and had plays in the fifth, sixth and seventh inning where ODU was able to record two outs on the same play to get out of jams the Chargers had created. For ODU, the Panthers got all the runs it needed in two swings of the bat in the bottom of the third inning, as a single, followed by a two-run home run, gave ODU a lead it would never relinquish.
Catron was a perfect 3 for 3 at the plate with a double to go with the home run for Hillsdale in the loss, and Holtman and Natalie Stepanenko each chipped in two hits as well.
Erin Kapteyn took the loss for the Chargers, pitching two and two thirds innings with two strikeouts and two walks, and Weidinger pitched three and a third scoreless innings of relief as well, striking out two, walking none and giving up just a single hit.
The Chargers finish the regular season 29-15, Hillsdale's best record since a 40-5 mark in 1991, and 17-5 in the G-MAC, taking second place in the final standings in the conference. The Chargers will now refocus on the upcoming G-MAC tournament starting on Thursday at the University of Findlay. At the moment, the Chargers are slated to play the presumptive seven-seed, Ursuline, in their opening-round matchup, though that could change as final results come in on Sunday.
Hillsdale is a perfect 8-0 all-time in G-MAC Tournament games, winning titles in both 2018 and 2019. They remain the defending champions entering the 2021 edition of the tourney, as last year's tournament was never played due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Photo by Kasidy Carson