The Hillsdale College softball team bounced back from a devastating loss to open the G-MAC Tournament on Wednesday with an emphatic showcase of why the team still deserves to compete for the title.

Fifth-seeded Hillsdale swept its elimination games on Thursday to become one of four teams to advance to Friday in the G-MAC Tourney, ending the seasons of eighth-seeded Cedarville and second-seeded Ohio Dominican along the way.

The Chargers jumped out to an early lead on the Yellow Jackets as Ronnie Craft led off the bottom of the first with a single, stole second base to set Hillsdale's single-season base stealing record with 35 on the year, and then scored from second on an error by Cedarville to give the Chargers a one-run lead.

Cedarville countered back with a run in the top of the second, and the two teams remained knotted at one run apiece until the bottom of the fifth inning. The Chargers bats caught fire in the fifth, as Hillsdale, the G-MAC regular-season leader in home runs, blasted three bombs in that fifth inning to plate seven runs and put the game out of reach. Taylor Lewis started things off for the Chargers with a three-run home run to left center, Medleigh Danchak added a two run blast to right center, and Anna Chellman finished off the outburst with a solo shot to left field. Maggie Olaveson added a RBI double in the fifth as well.

The Yellowjackets got two runs back in the sixth, but Olivia Liguori finished off the contest with Hillsdale's fourth home run of the game, a two-run shot in the sixth, to end a 10-3 contest and advance.

Danchak finished 2 for 4 with a double and a home run to lead the Chargers at the plate in the contest, while Taylor Lewis was 2 for 4 with the home run, Emma Sather and Annma Chellman each went 2 for 3, Cayla Contreras added a double and Ronnie Craft stole two bases.

Mackenzi Maxson went the distance for the Chargers, pitching all seven innings with four strikeouts and and two walks to improve to 11-7 on the season.

The win over Cedarville earned Hillsdale a date with second-seeded Ohio Dominican, which fell into the elimination bracket after a 1-0 loss to third seeded Ashland in the afternoon. Another single by Craft and an opponent error in the top of the first inning once again allowed Hillsdale to jump out to an early 1-0 lead, and once again the long ball proved to be the difference for the Chargers, as a two-run home run by Olaveson in the top of the third inning gave Hillsdale all the runs it needed to upset the Panthers and continue advancing in a 3-1 win. 

The Chargers dispatched the Panthers with a great defensive effort and a solid performance by freshman pitcher Katie Jonas, who struck out two, walked two and gave up just one earned run in a complete game effort to improve to 9-4 on the season. Hillsdale played error-free defense and turned a critical double play in the bottom of the sixth inning with ODU threatening to tie the game to help seal the victory. 

Nathalie Hagle was 2 for 4 as well at the plate in the game against the Panthers, and drove in Craft for the first run of the game, while Olaveson finished with a double and a two-run home run as well.

Hillsdale will play again on Friday in an another elimination game contest against top-seeded Tiffin, who fell into the loser's bracket with an upset loss to Findlay and ousted Northwood in an 8-7 walk-off win on Thursday night. The two squads will meet at 5:15 p.m. on Friday at Firestone Stadium in Akron, and if Hillsdale wins, the Chargers will play again immediately at 7:30 p.m. against the loser of the Findlay-Ashland contest for a spot in Saturday's championship game.