No matter how you look at it, the odds were stacked against the Hillsdale College softball team coming out of Saturday with a G-MAC title.
The Chargers needed a sweep of Findlay, a 32-10 team with just two conference losses entering the day, and on their home field. Because Hillsdale never got the opportunity to make up the second game of a doubleheader with Malone, they also had no path to sharing the title, and needed G-MAC leader Ohio Dominican to drop a game to Tiffin to open the door.
And even after Hillsdale ran past the Oilers 10-2 in the first game, and Tiffin pulled off a 6-4 upset of the Panthers, the Chargers still trailed 4-1 and were down to their final out in the top of the seventh inning of game two against the Oilers.
But the Chargers refused to break in front of those daunting odds, and their perseverance led to the biggest regular season victory for Hillsdale softball in nearly three decades.
With runners on first and second and two outs, junior Jenna Cantalupo worked a walk to load the bases and bring sophomore Hailey Holtman to the plate.
A foul fly by Holtman nearly sealed Hillsdale's fate then and there, but Findlay couldn't complete the play, and on the very next pitch the sophomore shortstop made the Oilers pay dearly with a bases-clearing double to centerfield that tied the game in one swing of the bat.
The Chargers weren't done. On the first pitch of the next at bat, senior Reagan Gensiejewski hit a hard ground ball down the left-field line for a single that scored Holtman, and gave Hillsdale its first lead of the game at 5-4.
Hillsdale completed the shocking comeback in the bottom of the seventh, as senior Camryn Olson pitched a 1-2-3 inning in relief, including a swinging strikeout. Senior Madison Rathbun cleanly fielded a ground ball and made the throw to Cantalupo at first base for the final out.
Olson earned the win in relief for Hillsdale, pitching two scoreless innings and striking out four of the nine batters she faced. It's a full-circle moment for the senior, who started her career by closing out the Chargers' victory in the 2019 G-MAC Tournament title game as a freshman, after winning two games during the tourney run.
Erin Kapteyn got the start for Hillsdale, going one and two-thirds innings, and Joni Russell pitching three and a third innings of relief as well, with five strikeouts and four walks.
Cantalupo and Madison Stoner each had two hits to lead the Chargers at the plate, and McKenna Eichholz added a double as well.
Hillsdale made quick work of Findlay in the first game in a 10-2 victory. Senior Madison Rathbun hit a two-run double in the top of the first inning to help the Chargers take a 3-0 lead early, and Hillsdale blew the game open with five runs in the top of the fifth, thanks to a three-run double by Cantalupo and RBI singles by Rathbun and Gensiejewski. Gensiejewski added a RBI double in the top of the seventh inning to help put the game away.
Russell had a strong outing on the mound to record her 14th win of the season for the Chargers, going all seven innings with three strikeouts, one walk and two earned runs.
Rathbun, Gensiejewski and Elaine Townley each finished with two hits to lead the Chargers at the plate in the first contest.
Hillsdale finishes the regular season 31-18 overall, and 19-2 in G-MAC play. Not only did the Chargers claim their first regular-season conference title since 1993 with Saturday's victories, Hillsdale also won its first outright title since 1990, and finish the season with the team's best regular-season record since 1991. It's an amazing turnaround for the Chargers, who were 4-14 on March 15 but have gone 27-4 since. The Chargers also finish the season with the fewest conference losses by a G-MAC champion since 2015, back when the league had just eight teams.
While the accomplishment is a meaningful one for Hillsdale, the Chargers still enter next week's G-MAC Tournament with work to do. The most recent NCAA DII Regional Rankings had the Chargers outside of the top 10, and while this weekend's showing will help Hillsdale greatly, the Chargers will still be motivated to have a strong showing to improve their chances of reaching a fourth-consecutive NCAA Tournament.
Hillsdale also can claim the NCAA auto-bid by winning the G-MAC tourney title. The Chargers will return to Findlay next Thursday to begin their G-MAC run, opening play at 12:30 p.m. against the winner of the morning contest between fourth-seeded Trevecca Nazarene and fifth-seeded Tiffin.
Photo by Isabella Sheehan