Coming off a smoking-hot showing on Saturday in a sweep of Ashland, the Hillsdale College softball team didn't cool down any at the plate on Sunday, as Hillsdale pounded out another 18 hits to take two from Tiffin and improve to 4-0 in G-MAC play in its home opener.
In both contests, Hillsdale made the Dragons pay dearly for their only two errors on the day. In a 9-1 victory in the first game, the Chargers plated seven runs, six unearned, to turn a scoreless tie into a rout, eventually ending the game with two more runs in the fifth inning.
Sophomore Emma Vis followed junior Hailey Holtman's one-out double in the third inning with a base hit to right-centerfield to get Hillsdale on the board, 1-0, but Tiffin had a chance to get out of the inning with just one run. A Dragon error at first base, however, kept the Chargers at bat and junior McKenna Eichholz took full advantage, crushing a grand slam to left field to score four more runs. Later in the inning, sophomore Ashley Strick blasted a second home run to left center to give the Chargers a 7-1 lead.
Hillsdale ended the game in the top of the fifth. Freshman Anna Chellman took advantage of a pinch hit opportunity with runners at second and third with an RBI single to score a run, and Holtman triggered the run rule with a RBI single as well to finish the 9-1 victory.
Holtman and Eichholz each went 2 for 3 at the plate in the victory for Hillsdale, as the Chargers scored nine runs on eight hits. Starter Joni Russell picked up her eighth win of the season in the circle for the Chargers, striking out eight, walking one and giving up just two hits and one earned run on a solo home run in the top of the fifth in five innings of work.
In the nightcap, Hillsdale fell behind on another solo home run by the Dragons, this one in the top of the fourth, and had left six runners stranded through four innings when they came up to bat in the bottom of the fifth trailing 1-0.
Once again, an error on a play at first base with two outs gave the Chargers an opening, extending the inning. Eichholz loaded the bases with a single, and freshman Taylor Lewis worked a 10-pitch walk to tie the game at one apiece.
With the bases still loaded, sophomore Hannah Hoverman delivered the crucial blow, taking the first pitch she saw to the wall in right center for a bases-clearing double to give the Chargers a 4-1 lead it wouldn't relinquish. Senior Jenna Cantalupo tacked on an insurance run on a RBI single to score freshman Janie West in the bottom of the sixth, and while Tiffin got a run back in the seventh, it was too little, too late to rally.
The double was Hoverman's second of the game, and Holtman and Eichholz each added two more hits as well for the Chargers. Erin Kapteyn pitched a complete game for her sixth win of the season, striking out four, walking one and giving up just five hits and two runs in another solid effort.
With the victory, Hillsdale improves to 17-12 overall, 4-0 in the G-MAC and now has a five game winning streak entering a big Saturday doubleheader at Cedarville next weekend. The Yellow Jackets are also off to a 4-0 start in G-MAC play, making next weekend's contests potentially very meaningful down the road in the conference standings depending on how things play out in April.
Photo Courtesy of Tusculum Athletics