The Hillsdale College softball team got its third straight road doubleheader sweep in G-MAC play on Saturday, holding host Thomas More to just one run across 14 innings in 6-1 and 3-0 victories.

The Chargers' Joni Russell (12-2) struck out 13 and gave up just one earned run to earn her 12th win of the season in the first game, and freshman Anistyn Foster (4-2) was just as good in the nightcap, pitching a complete game three-hitter with five strikeouts for her first career collegiate shutout as Hillsdale improved to 23-14 overall and 9-3 in G-MAC play.

Hillsdale put together just enough offense to support two excellent pitching performances on Saturday. After two scoreless innings in the first game, the Chargers pulled ahead in the top of the third. Three straight singles by Sydney Davis, Emma Sather and Taylor Lewis loaded the bases, and Maggie Olaveson was able to score Davis on a sacrifice fly. During the next at bat, Sather successfully stole home, one of three stolen bases by the junior on the day, to give Hillsdale a 2-0 edge.

Thomas More got a run back in the bottom of the fourth to cut the lead to 2-1, but the Chargers prevented the Saints from tying the game on a great defensive play to prevent an attempt to steal home and end the inning.

Tha meant Hillsdale was still ahead when the Chargers blew the game open in the top of the sixth. Anna Chellman hit a RBI single to start the scoring, while Olivia Liguori scored on an error on the same play, and Davis added a RBI single and Sather a RBI double later in the inning to pull ahead for good, 6-1. Thomas More had a threat in the bottom of the sixth, but Russell worked her way out of the jam and pitched a 1-2-3 seventh to seal the victory.

Sather was 3 for 4 with a double and a RBI to go along with those three stolen bases to lead Hillsdale at the plate in the opener, and Emma Vis and Sydney Davis each added two hits as well.

In the nightcap, Foster found herself in a pitcher's duel, with both teams scoreless through the fourth inning. Hillsdale didn't have its first baserunner in the game until a Maggie Olaveson single in the top of the fourth, but shortly after that in the top of the fifth, the Chargers seized the lead. Emma Vis reached on an error and made her way to third, where Davis brought her home on a two-out RBI single to give Hillsdale a 1-0 advantage.

Thomas More put the pressure on in the bottom of the fifth, advancing a runner to third with one out, but Hillsdale turned a clutch double play as Ashley Strick caught a shallow fly ball in right field and rifled it home to Liguori, who tagged the charging Saints runner out at the plate and preserved Hillsdale's lead.

Hillsdale got two important insurance runs in the top of the seventh, on a RBI double by Davis and a RBI single by Taylor Lewis, and Foster worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning and finished the game with a swinging strikeout. 

Along with the three RBI hits in the nightcap, Hannah Hoverman added a double and Maggie Olaveson a single as well.

The Chargers are now  4-0 on a long road swing this week and, thanks to those victories, have moved into a tie for third in the G-MAC with Findlay. Hillsdale will look to complete a perfect week and end the road trip on a good note tomorrow, Sunday, with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. against Kentucky Wesleyan in Owensboro, Kentucky.

Photo by Reva Ludwig