The Hillsdale College softball team rolled past host Ursuline on Sunday to hold serve in the G-MAC title race, scoring 29 total runs and racking up 26 hits in the doubleheader.
The Chargers jumped out to a huge early lead in both contests, triggering the run rule to win 17-0 in the first game and 12-1 in the second game.
Both Hailey Holtman and McKenna Eichholz went 4 for 4 for the Chargers in game 1 as Hillsdale took a 5-0 lead in the top of the first inning and never looked back. Eichholz chipped in a three run double and Holtman a double as well.
Freshman Anna Chellman was 3 for 4 in the first game as well for the Chargers, driving in runs on all three of her hits -- a RBI single in the first inning, a two-run home run in the top of the fourth and a three-run double in the top of the fifth.
Grace Wallner chipped in a two-run double as well for the Chargers, while Joni Russell picked up her 14th win of the season on the mound, striking out 13 of the 17 batters she faced in a two-hit shutout.
The nightcap went much the same for Hillsdale, as the Chargers took an early 4-0 lead in the top of the first and ran away with the game from there. Chellman stayed hot at the plate, going 2 for 2 with a RBI double, Holtman chipped in two hits and a RBIs sinle, and Grace Wallner and Hannah Hoverman each added two hits and two RBIs as well.
Hoverman finished with a double and senior Jenna Cantalupo hit a three-run home run as well for the Chargers in the victory.
On the mound, Erin Kapteyn recorded her 11th win of the season, striking out two, walking one, and giving up just two hits and one unearned run in the victory.
Hillsdale is now 28-17 overall, 14-4 in G-MAC play, and alone in second place entering the final week of play, two games back of G-MAC-leading Ohio Dominican. The Chargers head to Lake Erie tomorrow looking to get another sweep and set up a huge final weekend in G-MAC play, with the doubleheader between Hillsdale and the Panthers scheduled for Saturday, April 30, the final day of the regular season. Both teams have to get through tough Friday matchups (Hillsdale vs Findlay, Ohio Dominican vs Cedarville) and Hillsdale must get by the Storm tomorrow as well.
Photo by Isabella Sheehan