The Hillsdale College softball team started and finished strong to deny an upset-minded Cedarville squad and advance in the 2025 G-MAC Tournament with a 3-2 win on Wednesday.

The second-seeded Chargers jumped out to an early lead against the seventh-seeded Yellow Jackets, scoring twice in the first inning.  Emma Sather started the rally by beating out the throw to first for an infield single, and Taylor Lewis followed up with a single of her own.

After a groundout moved the runners to second and third, Hannah Hoverman hit a double to left field that scored Sather, and Lewis also was able to score from second on a throwing error by the shortstop trying to hold her at third.

Hillsdale added to that lead in the bottom of the fourth, as leadoff batter Emma Vis blasted a solo home run deep over the centerfield fence for her fifth round-tripper of 2025 and the 14th of her career. Vis' solo shot gave Hillsdale a 3-0 lead, and that insurance run would prove critical.

Cedarville made a charge in the sixth, as the Yellow Jackets' leadoff batter singled to get on and the second hitter put a two-run home run of her own over the left-center fence to cut Hillsdale's lead to 3-2. Hillsdale starter Joni Russell bounced back quickly after giving up the home run, striking out three of the next four batters she faced to get out of the inning.

Down to its final three outs, Cedarville looked to make one last push in the top of the seventh, but Russell shut the door with a 1-2-3 inning that included two strikeouts to seal the victory and get the Chargers to the next round.

With the victory, Russell is now 20-2 and becomes just the fifth pitcher in program history to win 20 games in a season. She finished with 11 strikeouts and two walks.

Emma Vis went 2 for 3 at the plate with a home run to lead the Chargers, and Hoverman and Anna Chellman each added a double as well for Hillsdale, which improves to 34-16 on the season.

Next up for the Chargers is the third seed, Findlay, who won their opener 7-3 over Ashland with four runs in the sixth inning to pull away. Hillsdale will face the Oilers at 10 a.m. on Thursday in a winner's bracket semifinal matchup. The victor will advance to the winner's bracket final on Friday, while the loser will turn around and play an elimination contest immediately following the game at 12:30 p.m.