The Hillsdale College softball team battled to a split with another strong G-MAC opponent at home on Sunday, taking a 4-0 victory over visiting Northwood in the first game and falling 3-1 in the nightcap.

The Chargers dispatched the Timberwolves comfortably in game one thanks to another dominant performance in the circle by Joni Russell. Russell, a previous G-MAC Pitcher of the Year and a consensus All-American has been lights out this season, and she kept a strong Northwood lineup off-balance with 11 strikeouts to two walks and scattering six hits for her fifth shutout of the season.

The Timberwolves' best chance to score came in the top of the first inning, as Northwood got two hits off Russell and drove a third ball to right field for a single with two outs. Right fielder Ashley Strick fielded a single and made a throw to home on the numbers to throw out a Timberwolves baserunner trying to score from second, saving a run and ending the inning.

The threat past, Hillsdale set about giving Russell run support. Maggie Olaveson blasted a two-run home run over the right-centerfield fence, scoring Emma Sather who reached on a single to give Hillsdale a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Olaveson added another RBI with a run-scoring single in the bottom of the second, and Anna Chellman tacked on another run on a sacrifice fly to give Hillsdale its 4-0 edge.

From there, Russell took over, retiring 12 straight batters before running into trouble in the sixth. Northwood used a walk and two hits to load the bases, but the senior induced a groundout to end the threat, then struck out three of the four batters she faced in the seventh inning to end the game and earn her 10th win of the season.

Olaveson was 2 for 4 with the home run and Sather also added two hits and a stolen base to lead the Chargers in the opener.

In the nightcap, Hillsdale struggled to break through offensively, with just three hits as Northwood's stout defensive effort ended multiple Chargers chances to tie the game or pull ahead late. Hillsdale fell behind 2-0 in the top of the third and tacked on a third run in the top of the fourth, but the Chargers stayed in the game with strong defense of their own, stranding 12 Northwood baserunners, including nine in scoring position to give themselves a chance late despite being outhit 11-3.

Ashley Strick ended the shutout in the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run to left field to cut the deficit to 3-1, and Hillsdale had multiple chances to tie or take the lead, including deep fly balls by Olaveson and Anna Chellman that dropped into outfielder's gloves just inches from the fence. In the end, however, nothing materialized for the Chargers to even the score before Hillsdale ran out of outs.

The Chargers are now 19-14 overall, 5-3 in G-MAC play and in the thick of a large group of teams near the top of the standings, two games back of leaders Tiffin and Ashland at 9-1. Hillsdale has a busy week ahead, traveling to Painesville, Ohio for a make-up doubleheader with Lake Erie on Wednesday before swinging down to Kentucky on the weekend, playing Thomas More on Saturday and Kentucky Wesleyan on Sunday. 

Photo by Reva Ludwig