The Hillsdale College softball team continued an elimination bracket rally in the G-MAC softball tournament on Friday morning, rolling to an 8-0 win over Cedarville to become one of the last four teams remaining.
But the second-seeded Chargers ran out of road in the afternoon in an elimination game against top-seeded Trevecca Nazarene, falling 5-3 to end their tourney run.
Hillsdale controlled the game against the Trojans early on, manufacturing runs on a RBI ground-out by junior Reagan Gensiejewski in the top of the second and a sacrifice fly by senior Madison Stoner in the top of the third to take an early 2-0 lead.
When Stoner tacked on a third run on a RBI single in the top of the fifth, the Chargers seemed to be closing in on a date with Tiffin in the elimination bracket final and a chance to make the championship game.
But Trevecca exploded for five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take the lead, and the Chargers were unable to string together the hits they needed in the sixth and seventh innings to complete a rally of their own.
Senior Emma Johnson went 2 for 3 with a triple and junior Renee Bielalwa went 2 for 3 at the plate as well to lead the Chargers in the loss, and Natalie Stepanenko also chipped in a double.
Starting her third game in two days, senior Dana Weidinger took the loss for Hillsdale, striking out four and walking two in four and a third innings, and senior Julia Sayles and freshman Erin Kapteyn also pitched in relief for the Chargers.
Hillsdale opened the day with a dominant win over Cedarville to knock the Yellow Jackets out of the tournament and advance. The Chargers plated four runs in the bottom of the first inning, three on a two-run single by freshman Hailey Holtman and a RBI single by Stoner, and never looked back.
Bielawa added a two-run triple and a RBI single later in the game as well for the Chargers, and Stoner chipped in an additional RBI double as well.
Sam Catron went 2 for 3 as well for the Chargers, and Dana Weidinger became just the fourth player in program history to record a 20-win season on the mound, pitching five innings with three strikeouts and two walks to earn the shutout victory.
Hillsdale is now 31-17 on the season, and will await the announcement of the NCAA Division II tournament field on Sunday, May 16 to see if the team might make the field with an at-large bid.
Photo by Ralph Schudel