The Hillsdale College softball team came through in a big showdown on Friday, powering past the defending G-MAC Champions, Trevecca Nazarene, in a home doubleheader to remain even in losses atop the conference with Ohio Dominican and Findlay.
Along the way, the Chargers also picked up head coach Kyle Gross' 100th career victory, thanks to 1-0 and 9-5 victories over the Trojans on a wet, cold day.
The first contest was a tightly played pitchers duel where the two teams combined for six hits and both played flawless defense. The lone run in the game came in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Hillsdale took advantage of a leadoff double by Elaine Townley, who moved to third on a wild pitch and then reached home on a second pitch the catcher couldn't corral to give the Chargers a lead they would never relinquish.
Freshman Joni Russell was excellent on the mound for the Chargers in a complete game shutout victory, her 11th win of the year, to beat Trevecca pitcher Ashlan Sensing in a showdown of two of the G-MAC's top pitchers this season. Russell shut down one of the best lineups she'd seen all year statistically, striking out eight batters and only giving up two walks and three hits in the contest. Two of those strikeouts came in the final inning, with Russell over 100 pitches for the contest and the tying run at first base.
Madison Stoner and Natalie Stepanenko each had one hit for the Chargers as well to go with Townley's fourth inning double.
After one of the best-played softball games Johnny Williams Field has seen in some time, things got a little strange in the nightcap. Carrying the momentum over from the previous game, the Chargers pounced on Trevecca early, taking a nine-run lead after four innings.
Stoner got the scoring started, hitting a RBI single to center field in the bottom of the first inning, and the Chargers broke the game open with two outs in the bottom of the second, as Townley hit a two-run single with the bases-loaded and senior Madison Rathbun followed with a two-run double two batters later to give Hillsdale 5-0 lead.
Townley added another RBI single and Hillsdale scored two more runs on a bases-loaded walk and a hit by pitch in the bottom of the third, and Olivia Latimer added a RBI single in the bottom of the fourth to make it 9-0 Chargers.
Things went sideways in the top of the fifth, as rain that had started shortly after the first pitch and steadily worsened throughout the game, affecting both teams, reached its peak. Trevecca took advantage to mount a comeback, using four walks and three hits to plate five runs in the half-inning, but after a pitching change, freshman reliever Dani Deaton was able to strike out back-to-back batters to strand two Trevecca runners and end the inning having preserved a 9-5 Hillsdale lead.
That proved to be critical as worsening rain forced the game to be suspended just two batters into the bottom of the fifth. With the trailing team having gotten to bat in the fifth inning, and no possiblity of resuming the game that day, Hillsdale was awarded the victory and the sweep.
Sophomore Hailey Holtman was 2 for 2 at the plate to lead the Chargers in the victory, and Latimer and Townley each chipped in two hits as well.
Erin Kapteyn (8-2) got the win for the Chargers, having pitched four scoreless innings prior to coming out in the fifth, and the sophomore finished with four strikeouts, six walks and four hits conceded. Three of those walks and three of those hits came in the top of the fifth, as the weather continued to deteriorate.
Hillsdale is now 22-17 overall, 10-1 in the G-MAC, and in a dead-heat with Ohio Dominican and Findlay for first place in the conference standings. The Chargers will pick back up tomorrow at Johnny Williams Field, looking to keep pace in G-MAC play with a doubleheader against Kentucky Wesleyan beginning at 1 p.m.
Photo by Isabella Sheehan