The Hillsdale College softball team rolled with the punches over a rainy weekend, losing four scheduled games at the Tusculum Round Robin when weather wiped out much of the weekend in Tennessee, but finding two games to replace some of the four that were lost in a quickly arranged doubleheader in Wheeling, West Virginia.
With a complete washout of originally scheduled games for Saturday and Sunday, the Chargers drove north to play Wheeling University, who found a field to play on and graciously hosted Hillsdale on short notice in a doubleheader.
The Chargers split with the Cardinals, rallying from a 4-2 deficit in after four innings to take a 6-4 victory in game one.
Hillsdale's first five batters reached in the top of the fifth inning, and juniors Emma Vis and Hannah Hoverman each hit a two-run home run in the frame to help the Chargers take the lead.
Pitching with an advantage on the scoreboard for the first time all day, Erin Kapteyn shook off a three-run fourth inning and was lights-out down the stretch, pitching three scoreless innings, including 1-2-3 innings in the sixth and seventh, to secure her first victory of the season. Kapteyn finished the complete game with four strikeouts and no walks.
Along with Vis and Hoverman's home runs, sophomore Maggie Olaveson also went 2 for 4 with a solo home run in the second inning for the Chargers at the plate, sophomore Emma Sather hit a RBI double in the fourth inning as well, and Taylor Lewis also added a double. Sather and Grace Wallner each stole a base as well for the Chargers.
In the nightcap, Hillsdale struck first, taking advantage of a walk and a single by Emma Vis to plate a run on a ground ball by McKenna Eichholz, but fell behind 6-1 in the first three innings and couldn't get back in the game in a 9-2 defeat.
Hannah Hoverman hit her second home run of the day, a solo shot, to score a run for the Chargers in the sixth inning, and Vis finished 2 for 2 with a double at the plate, while Maggie Olaveson and Grace Wallner each added a double was well.
Mackenzi Maxson took the loss for the Chargers, striking out five and walking five in five innings of work. Kapteyn pitched a scoreless inning of relief as well for the Chargers.
Hillsdale (2-1) will take the coming weekend off, practicing for the next 11 days and look to work on lessons learned from their first week of competition. The Chargers next travel to the Chicagoland area to play in the Rosemont Dome Invitational, with five contests scheduled from Feb. 23-25 beginning with games against Purdue Northwest and Upper Iowa on Friday, Feb. 23.