The Hillsdale College softball team took care of business and avoided a costly upset on Saturday, sweeping past host Ashland with a dominant 10-1 victory in Game 1 and pulling out a thrilling 3-2 win in the second contest.
The Chargers have now won 12 straight games and are 16-1 in their last 17 contests, remaining in a dead heat for first place in the G-MAC with just three conference doubleheaders remaining.
Hillsdale came out swinging in the opener, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning and never looking back. Senior Jenna Cantalupo started the scoring in the top of the second with a RBI single to left field, and an additional run came home on a throwing error by the Eagles getting the ball back into the infield. In the next at bat, sophomore Hailey Holtman tacked on another run on a RBI single of her own to score Cantalupo.
The Chargers stayed hot at the plate throughout the contest, racking up 13 hits. Seniors Elaine Townley and Madison Rathbun each hit a RBI single to tack on two more runs in the top of the third, then drove in three more runs combined on two singles in the top of the fourth as well. Townley finished off the game with a RBI double in the top of the fifth to ensure Hillsdale would be in position to end the game early.
Townley, Rathbun and Natalie Stepanenko each finished with three hits in the game to lead the Chargers at the plate, with Rathbun going 3 for 3 with a double and three RBIs.
Erin Kapteyn pitched an excellent game on the mound to earn her 10th victory of the season for the Chargers, giving Hillsdale two pitchers with double-digit wins in the same season for the first time since Sarah Klopfer and Sarah Grunert in 2016. The sophomore struck out six batters, walked two and scattered just four hits across five innings, with only a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth standing between her and a scoreless appearance.
The nightcap was a much tougher contest for the Chargers, who struggled to solve a new pitcher and fell behind 2-0 early in an error-ridden third inning. Hillsdale stayed patient and proved opportunistic in the top of the fifth inning, scoring two runs on three Ashland errors to tie the game at two runs apiece, then got the winning run across on a ground ball by sophomore McKenna Eichholz that drove in Rathbun in the top of the sixth inning.
Senior Camryn Olson earned the win for the Chargers on the mound, striking out six, walking three and giving up just one earned run in five and two-thirds innings of work in a strong start for Hillsdale. Freshman Emma Vis recorded the final four outs for the Chargers to earn her first career save, getting Hillsdale out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the sixth and giving up no baserunners in an inning and a third of work.
At the plate, Rathbun stayed hot for the Chargers in the second game, going 2 for 4 with a double to lead Hillsdale, which had just six hits in the second contest.
Hillsdale is now 26-17 overall, 14-1 in G-MAC play. Saturday's victories keep the Chargers right in the mix of a three-team race for the G-MAC title between Ohio Dominican, Findlay, and Hillsdale, who each have just one conference loss at this point in the season.
Another crucial doubleheader beckons for Hillsdale tomorrow, Sunday, as the Chargers host Ursuline, currently the fourth-place team in the G-MAC, for two contests beginning at 1 p.m. It's also Hillsdale's senior day, where the Chargers will honor a special eight-player senior class that's on track to graduate as the program's winningest since the program's heyday in the late 80s and early 90s.
Photo by Morgan Hoverman