The Hillsdale College softball team opened up G-MAC play with a doubleheader against Ashland indoors at the Total Sports Complex in Rossford, Ohio on Saturday.
And the Charger bats showed up big for the occasion.
Hillsdale had its best offensive day of the season, pounding out 29 hits, including 14 extra base hits, in 6-2 and 12-4 victories to open the conference season with a sweep.
The Chargers started the day hot, as leadoff hitter Hailey Holtman took Ashland's first pitch to the left-field fence on a triple that turned into a run thanks to an error getting the ball back to the infield by the Eagles, giving Hillsdale a 1-0 lead.
Holtman added a two-run double in the bottom of the second inning, and sophomore Emma Vis hit a RBI single as well. Vis continued the scoring with a RBI triple in the bottom of the fourth inning and Grace Wallner chipped in a RBI single in the inning as Hillsdale pulled away for a 6-2 victory.
Sophomore Joni Russell struck out nine of the 18 batters she faced in a five-inning three hitter on the mound to pick up her seventh victory of the season for Hillsdale, while Erin Kapteyn finished the final two innings of the contest. Holtman and Vis each finished with three hits and two RBIs to lead Hillsdale at the plate, Ashley Strick chipped in two hits, including a double, and Taylor Lewis hit a double as well for the Chargers in the victory.
In the second game of the doubleheader, Hillsdale broke open a 4-4 deadlock with three runs in the bottom of the third inning and four in the bottom of the fifth, finishing the victory an inning early with two more runs in the bottom of the sixth in a 12-4 victory.
The Chargers pounded out a season-high 17 hits in the victory, led by a huge game from catcher Hannah Hoverman, who went 3 for 4 with a double, two home runs and five RBIs. Junior McKenna Eichholz drove in the run that put Hillsdale up for good in the third inning on a double and finished 3 for 4 on the day, as did Wallner, who also went 3 for 4.
Holtman and Vis continued an impressive day, each hitting a home run for the Chargers in the game two victory as well as two hits apiece, and Jenna Cantalupo added two hits, including a two-run double. Emma Sather hit a RBI single as well to walk off for the Chargers in the bottom of the sixth inning.
On the mound, Kapteyn picked up the victory, pitching three innings, striking out two and walking none. Vis pitched an inning and two-thirds of one hit, scoreless ball, and Russell closed out the game for her first save of the season, striking out one and giving up no runs in the victory.
Hillsdale improves to 15-12 overall and 2-0 in G-MAC play with the victory. They'll look to stay hot at the plate with another doubleheader at Johnny Williams Field in Hillsdale tomorrow, as the Chargers host Tiffin for their first home doubleheader of the season Sunday beginning at 1 PM.