The Hillsdale College softball team celebrated its four graduating seniors in a doubleheader on Saturday against Ashland, and sent that quartet out in fitting fashion with a dominant sweep of the visiting Eagles.

Hillsdale didn't allow a run and just four total baserunners across 12 innings in shutout victories over Ashland, 8-0 in five innings in the opener and 6-0 in the nightcap.

Senior Joni Russell (16-2) won the opener and was just one Eagles single away from a perfect game, striking out nine of the 16 batters she faced on just 62 pitches in the victory. The quick victory in game one meant Russell still had plenty left in the tank, and the Chargers put her back in the circle for the second game, where she picked up right where she left off, pitching five more shutout innings with three strikeouts and conceding just one hit and one walk to earn her second win of the day.

Mackenzi Maxson pitched the final two innings and capped a dominant day for the Chargers pitching staff, retiring six of the seven batters she faced and giving up just a single hit to preserve the shutout.

The second victory was Joni's 66th of her career, breaking the Hillsdale career record of 65 held for 35 years by former All-American and Hillsdale College Hall of Famer Renae Schaffner. The senior also recorded her 24th shutout, breaking the G-MAC career record set by Haley Fagan of Trevecca Nazarene and adding to her Hillsdale career record. Russell already holds Hillsdale's career strikeouts record (819) and, at 593.2 innings pitched, needs just 0.2 more innings to break the career innings pitched record set by Dana Weidinger in 2021.

Hillsdale matched dominance in the circle with dominance at the plate, scoring 14 runs for the doubleheader on 21 hits. The Chargers set the tone from the start, as Emma Sather led off the first game with a double and Taylor Lewis batted her in with a RBI single in the very next at bat to give Hillsdale an early lead. Sydney Davis added another RBI single to score Lewis in the bottom of the first, and the Chargers continued rolling through the contest, with senior Emma Vis adding a RBI double in the third inning, and Anna Chellman and Lewis each hitting two-run doubles later in the game as well to trigger the run rule and end the game after five innings.

Sather went 3 for 4 at the plate to lead Hillsdale in the opener, and stole two bases to tie K.B. Murawski's single-season record at Hillsdale of 31 set in 1991. Vis went 2 for 2 as well and fellow senior Hannah Hoverman added a double.

The Chargers got off to a slower start in the nightcap but were energized by a two-run home run from Maggie Olaveson off the top of the center field fence to give Hillsdale the lead in the bottom of the third. Olaveson added another run with a RBI double in the bottom of the fifth, and later scored on a RBI single by Anna Chellman. Sydney Davis hit a RBI double in the fifth to score Chellman as well and senior Ashley Strick put a cap on an excellent Senior Day with a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the sixth. 

Olaveson and Strick had two hits, including a home run, to lead the Chargers at the plate, and Chellman went 2 for 3 as well.

While Russell's records highlighted the day, all four seniors played well and contributed to the wins for the Chargers on the day held in their honor. Hillsdale is now 28-15 overall, 14-4 in G-MAC play and remains third in the conference standings, two games back of Tiffin and just a hair behind Findlay at 16-4. 

The Chargers will play their final home doubleheader of the season on Tuesday, hosting Malone in a makeup of a rained-out doubleheader from earlier in the season at 3 p.m. Hillsdale finishes the regular season with three doubleheaders and will look to stay in the G-MAC and NCAA Regional conversations with a strong finish.