As the two best pitching staffs in the G-MAC faced off in a critical G-MAC Tournament game on Thursday, it was clear that one or two moments could prove critical in what was sure to be a close contest.
And in a game that featured only six hits between the two teams and no earned runs, it was the second-seeded Hillsdale College softball team that owned the moment against third-seeded Trevecca Nazarene in a 2-1 victory that keeps the Chargers advancing.
With only three hits to work with offensively, Hillsdale made the most of what they were given, turning a leadoff single by senior Jenna Cantalupo into an early run in the bottom of the second inning. Junior McKenna Eichholz advanced Erin Kapteyn, who pinch ran for Cantalupo, to second base with a perfect sacrifice bunt, and a groundout by freshman Taylor Lewis got Kapteyn to third. That put Kapteyn in position to take advantage of a passed ball by the Trojans to plate the first run of the game and give Hillsdale a 1-0 lead.
Trevecca answered back in the top of the third, taking advantage of two Hillsdale errors to plate a run and tie the game with two outs, but the Chargers made a great defensive play to prevent the Trojans from taking the lead in the next at bat, as left fielder Janie West fielded a double by the Trojans and relayed the ball to shortstop Hailey Holtman, who quickly threw a laser to catcher Hannah Hoverman in time to make the tag on a Trevecca runner at the plate for the third out.
That heads-up defensive play kept the game tied, and the Chargers in position to retake the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Once again, a single early in the inning, this time by Eichholz, got a runner on, and from there Hillsdale took advantage of another perfect bunt by Lewis and two Trevecca errors to score Eichholz and give Hillsdale a 2-1 advantage that would hold up this time.
Hillsdale's defense continued to back up the Chargers pitchers throughout the game. Centerfielder Emma Sather made an acrobatic catch against the fence to rob at minimum a double from Trevecca, part of a stretch in the fourth, fifth, sixth and the start of the seventh inning where Hillsdale retired 10 straight Trevecca batters in order.
And in the circle, the Chargers showed why they were the only G-MAC squad to put two pitchers on the All-G-MAC first and second team. Junior Erin Kapteyn, who scored one of the two runs in support of herself as a pinch runner, pitched five excellent innings, striking out six, walking none and giving up just two hits and the one unearned run for her 13th win of the season.
After getting the Chargers in position with a top-notch performance, Kapteyn turned things over to G-MAC Pitcher of the Year Joni Russell for the final two innings, and Russell dominated, striking out three of the seven batters she faced and giving up just one hit and no runs to record her second save of the season.
With the victory, Hillsdale improved to 33-18 overall, and 2-0 in the tournament, joining host and fifth-seeded Findlay as the only remaining unbeaten teams in the bracket after the first two days of play.
The Chargers will meet the Oilers in the winner's bracket final at 10 a.m. on Friday, with the winner earning a spot in the G-MAC Championship game on Saturday. It'll be the first time the two teams meet on the field this season, as a combination of weather and travel issues prevented the doubleheader between the two squads in April from being played.
Photo by Luke Starkey