The Hillsdale College softball team found itself on the wrong end of two extremely tight softball games on Saturday afternoon as the Chargers went 0-2 on the first day of the Illinois-Springfield Invitational.
In the opener against Quincy, the Chargers made an impressive rally from a 5-1 deficit in the bottom of the fifth inning. Hillsdale took advantage of an error by the Hawks that gave Hillsdale two baserunners to work with, and senior Jenna Cantalupo got the scoring started with an RBI single that drove in sophomore Ashley Strick.
Freshman Taylor Lewis also scored later in the inning on a sacrifice fly by Grace Wallner, and junior Hailey Holtman hit a RBI double to bring Hillsdale within one run of the lead. But with the go-ahead run on second base, the Chargers couldn't keep the rally going, and Hillsdale wouldn't get another opportunity with baserunners on to tie the game or take the lead in the final two innings. Ultimately, the Chargers couldn't overcome a strong start by Quincy in the first two innings, as the Hawks put up three runs to surge ahead and never relinquished the lead the rest of the way.
Strick got the Chargers on the board with a solo home run in the top of the third inning, finishing with two hits to lead the Chargers at the plate, and McKenna Eichholz chipped in two hits as well. Erin Kapteyn took the loss for Hillsdale, striking out three and walking one in four innings of work, and Emma Vis pitched three innings of relief with four strikeouts and three walks as well.
In the nightcap against host Illinois-Springfield, Hillsdale rallied from another deficit, this time to tie the game and force extra innings, before giving up a walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth in a 3-2 loss.
UIS took advantage of an error in the third inning and used a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning to scratch runs across and take a 2-0 lead into the sixth inning. Running out of time, Hillsdale took advantage of back-to-back singles by Hailey Holtman and Emma Vis, followed by a throwing error by the Prairie Stars catcher after a Hillsdale strikeout that allowed Holtman to score from second. Eichholz drove in Vis with a RBI single to tie up the game, and when neither team could score in the seventh inning, the game went to extras.
Hillsdale had chances in the ninth inning, getting two baserunners on, but one was caught stealing and the Chargers couldn't advance the other. In the bottom of the ninth, the Prairie Stars were able to get the leadoff batter on, advance her to second with a sacrifice bunt, and drive her in for the winning run with a base hit.
Both Holtman and Cantalupo finished with two hits to lead the Chargers at the plate, and Cantalupo added a double as well. Sophomore Joni Russell was the hard-luck loser for Hillsdale on the mound despite a strong start, pitching all eight and a third innings, striking out nine, walking one, and giving up three earned runs, and just two in the standard seven-inning game.
Hillsdale is now 4-7 overall and will look to bounce back tomorrow at the UIS Invite, first taking on McKendree at noon central time and then getting another shot at Quincy to round out the invitational in the second game of the day.