The Hillsdale College softball team got an important pair of home victories on Saturday, sweeping past Thomas More 3-1 and 10-1 to complete a 3-1 weekend at Johnny Williams Field.
The Saints came in with a lackluster record in conference play, but that record understated the threat Thomas More posed, as the Saints showed by splitting with G-MAC title contender Northwood the day before.
Not wanting to take a damaging loss in conference play, the Chargers played two strong outings, starting with a 3-1 pitchers' duel in the opener.
Both teams struggled to break through offensively, with each team mustering just three hits in seven innings against two excellent performances in the circle by Hillsdale's Joni Russell and Thomas More's Annika Gels.
While Hillsdale had just three hits in the game, the Chargers were able to string them together in a huge third inning, as freshman Sydney Davis and sophomore Taylor Lewis hit back-to-back doubles, with Lewis driving in Davis to give the Chargers a 1-0 lead.
That brought sophomore Maggie Olaveson to the plate, and Olaveson delivered a two-run home run down the left-field line to give the Chargers a 3-0 advantage.
The three-run lead was all that Russell needed for the Chargers, as the junior earned her 12th win of the season in a complete-game performance with 13 strikeouts and just three walks, three hits and one run surrendered. Russell worked her way through a dangerous fifth inning that saw Thomas More load the bases and scratch a run across, recording the final out with a swinging strikeout to end the threat.
The Chargers bats woke up in the nightcap, as Hillsdale pounded out 13 hits to roll to a 10-1 run-rule victory and complete the sweep. Hillsdale jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning, on a two-run double by Hannah Hoverman and RBI singles by Hailey Holtman and Emma Sather.
Hoverman did more damage in the top of the second, smashing a three-run home run off the scoreboard in left field. The Saints were able to get on the board in the top of the fourth with a RBI single, but the Chargers walked off in the bottom of the fifth with another two-run shot down the left-field line by Olaveson that triggered the run rule.
Hoverman led Hillsdale at the plate in the victory, going 3 for 3 with two doubles, a home run and five RBIs, while Olaveson also added a double and a home run and Davis chipped in two doubles. Emma Vis also finished with two hits in the win for the Chargers.
Senior Erin Kapteyn had another excellent start on the mound for the Chargers to earn her 10th win of the season, going all five innings with four strikeouts and just one walk, four hits and one run conceded.
Hillsdale is now 23-11 overall, 9-3 in G-MAC play and in a tight race at the top of the conference standings led by Trevecca Nazarene at 14-2 overall. Hillsdale has a big road week ahead against three of the top eight teams in the conference, starting with a midweek trip to Tiffin on Wednesday for two games against the 20-16 Dragons beginning at 1 p.m.
Photo by Isabella Sheehan