The Hillsdale College softball team fell victim to an upset on a day filled with them at the G-MAC softball tournament on Thursday in Findlay, Ohio.
But with their backs to the wall, the Chargers rallied in the second game to knock out one of the G-MAC's top contenders and stay alive in the competition.
Hillsdale, which entered the tournament as the second seed, earned a 5-2 victory over Malone in an elimination game to close the day, scoring four runs in the bottom of the sixth to overturn a 2-1 deficit and eliminate the third-seeded Pioneers.
Junior Renee Bielawa delivered the clutch hit with two outs that put the Chargers ahead for good, hitting a single up the middle that scored two runs, and pinch-hitter Madison Rathbun and junior Reagan Gensiejewski each tacked on another run on a single as well to extend Hillsdale's lead.
Senior Dana Weidinger went the distance in another strong start for the Chargers, earning her 19th win of the season, striking out seven, walking one and giving up just four hits and two earned runs.
A Sam Catron single in the bottom of the fourth broke a scoreless tie with Malone and gave Hillsdale an edge in a low-scoring contest, but Malone answered back in the top of the sixth with a two-run home run by Bailey Byers to briefly take the lead and force Hillsdale to rally in the bottom of the inning.
Earlier in the day, the Chargers were upset by seventh-seeded Ursuline in a back and forth contest, 9-8, to drop into the elimination bracket.
Hillsdale struck first in the contest, taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a solo home run by Madison Stoner, her eighth of the year.
But Ursuline pounced after that, taking a 4-1 lead in the top of the third inning on a three-run home run by Maddie Fields, and tacking on two more runs in the top of the fifth inning.
Trailing 6-1, the Chargers batled all the way back in the bottom of the sixth, plating seven runs on seven hits to take an 8-6 lead. Freshman Hailey Holtman, senior Sarah Wojcik, senior Natalie Stepanenko and Stoner each hit a RBI single in the inning, and senior Emma Johnson had the big hit, a bases-clearing triple that helped the Chargers retake the lead.
But Hillsdale couldn't hold down the upset-minded Arrows, who plated three runs in the top of the seventh inning to retake a 9-8 edge, and couldn't manufacture the run it needed to force extra innings in the bottom of the seventh.
Stoner and Holtman each went 3 for 4 at the plate to lead the Chargers in the loss, and Catron chipped in a double as well for Hillsdale.
Julia Sayles took the loss in relief for Hillsdale, striking out one in one and two-thirds innings of work. The Chargers used four pitchers against the Arrows, with Camryn Olson getting the start and striking out two in two and two-thirds innings, and Weidinger pitching two and a third innings of relief wih two strikeouts and a walk as well.
Hillsdale (30-16) remains one of the six G-MAC teams in the hunt for the conference title, but has a long road back to the championship game from the elimination bracket. The Chargers will look to get on a roll with potentially as many as three games tomorrow, Friday, if Hillsdale can keep winning and stay alive. Hillsdale opens at 10 a.m. on Friday against the loser of the Tiffin/Cedarville game that had yet to be decided at the time this article was published. With a victory, the Chargers would play again at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, and then again at 3 p.m. with another victory.
Photo Courtesy of Ralph Schudel