The Hillsdale College softball team traveled to Texas on Friday to open its season, looking for strong competition in the Portland Invitational to measure itself against.
The Chargers found exactly that, battling two foes from the always-loaded Lone Star Conference and coming away with a hard-earned split, falling to St. Mary's (TX) 7-1 in the opener and bouncing back to beat Texas A&M International in the nightcap.
Hillsdale battled St. Mary's for two scoreless innings, but the Rattlers got on the board in the third inning to take a 1-0 lead, then tacked on two runs in each of the next three innings to pull away. The Chargers had chances to get back in the game, getting two runners in scoring position in the top of the fourth and in the top of the sixth, but couldn't push a run across until Jenna Cantalupo hit a solo home run in the top of the seventh inning, too late to mount a serious comeback.
Senior Kasidy Carson went 2 for 3 at the plate and added a stolen base to lead the Chargers in the loss, Elaine Townley chipped in a double, and Madison Stoner and Natalie Stepanenko each chipped in a single as well.
On the mound, senior Camryn Olson took the loss for the Chargers, striking out two and walking four in three and a third innings. Sophomore Erin Kapteyn pitched two innings of relief, striking out two and walking one, and freshman Emma Vis pitched two-thirds of an inning with a strikeout and a walk.
After being undone by a slow start in their first game, Hillsdale learned its lesson and jumped on Texas A&M International in their second game, scoring four runs in the first two innings to take a lead it would never surrender. Stoner started off the scoring in the bottom of the first with an RBI double, scoring Townley, and the Chargers tacked on three runs in the bottom of the second, on a RBI single by Carson and a two-run single by Renee Bielawa.
In the fourth inning, Stoner came through again, tacking on an insurance run with another RBI double to give the Chargers a 5-0 lead. The senior finished 3 for 3 in the contest to lead the Chargers at the plate, and Carson, Bielawa and freshman Olivia Latimer each chipped in two hits as well.
Freshman Joni Russell got her first career start for the Chargers and was strong throughout, pitching six and one-third innings with three strikeouts and three walks and conceding two earned runs. With TAMIU trying to mount a comeback late with two seventh inning runs, another Hillsdale freshman, Dani Deaton, came in in relief and shut the Dust Devils down, finishing the final two-thirds of an inning with a strikeout to earn her first career save.
Hillsdale (1-1) continues play in the Portland Invite on Saturday in Portland, Texas, opening with a rematch against the Dust Devils at 1:30 p.m. ET, and then taking on host Texas A&M-Kingsville in the nightcap at 4 p.m.
Photo by Kasidy Carson