The Hillsdale College softball team ended a productive Spring Break trip with a split against a solid Embry-Riddle squad on Saturday, thanks to a thrilling extra-inning victory to start the day.

The nine inning contest was Hillsdale's fourth extra-inning game of its 10-game Florida swing, and thanks to a 9-6 victory over the Eagles, the Chargers captured all four.

After Embry-Riddle scored four straight runs in the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings to tie the game at six runs apiece and force extra innings, Hillsdale locked in, holding the Eagles scoreless in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. 

The Chargers were unable to retake the lead in the seventh and eighth but broke through in the ninth, thanks in part to back-to-back singles to start the inning by Sydney Davis and Olivia Liguori. Emma Vis laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners over, but a throwing error allowed her to reach safely and Lauren Liguori, pinch running for Davis, to score from second base.

Now up 7-6, Hillsdale added two more runs with smart baserunning, scoring on a fielder's choice bunt by Hannah Hoverman, and getting Emma Carney home on a first and third play to take a 9-6 lead.

Embry-Riddle made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth, loading the bases with the potential walk-off run at the plate, but Hillsdale's Anistyn Foster was able to get out of the jam in the circle to seal the victory for the Chargers.

Hillsdale fell behind Embry-Riddle 2-0 in the first inning of the contest, but cut into the lead with a RBI single by Olivia Liguori in the third inning, and pulled ahead with five runs in the fifth, thanks to a pair of two-run singles by Taylor Lewis and Anna Chellman.

Sydney Davis stayed hot at the plate for the Chargers, going 3 for 5, and Olivia Liguori and Taylor Lewis each chipped in three hits as well in the win. Emma Sather and Anna Chellman each added a pair of singles.

Joni Russell (6-1) earned the win in relief for the Chargers, coming on with the game tied in the bottom of the sixth inning and pitching three scoreless frames with three strikeouts. and no walks. Foster accomplished a rare statistical feat by saving the game she started, pitching the first five innings and then returning in the bottom of the ninth to relieve Russell and finish the victory.

Hillsdale had a shot at winning the nightcap as well, but couldn't overcome a five-run fifth inning by Embry-Riddle in a 7-4 loss. 

After falling behind once again in the first inning, Hillsdale answered with a RBI single by Anna Chellman in the top of the second, but the Eagles pulled ahead again 2-1 in the bottom of the second, then took a 7-1 lead in a messy bottom of the fifth by the Chargers that included two costly errors.

Hillsdale battled back, scoring on an error in the top of the sixth to cut into the lead, and scoring twice with one out in the top of the seventh on a RBI double by Emma Sather and a RBI single by Sydney Davis. Ultimately, however, the deficit proved to be too much for the Chargers to overcome.

Chellman led Hillsdale with a single and a double in the loss, Hannah Hoverman chipped in a double and Taylor Lewis added two hits as well.

Mackenzi Maxson took the loss for the Chargers, pitching four and a third innings with one strikeout and three walks, and Grace Harris pitched the final inning and two thirds as well.

Despite finishing with a loss, Hillsdale's Florida trip was a tremendously successful one, as the Chargers went 8-2 and will return up north with a solid 14-9 record. Hillsdale plays its home opener on Wednesday against a tough Midwest Region opponent, Saginaw Valley State, at 2 p.m., before opening G-MAC play on the road at Ursuline and Lake Erie next Saturday and Sunday.

Photo by Reva Ludwig