The Hillsdale College softball team pounded out 23 total hits and scored 20 runs in a doubleheader trip to Findlay on Monday, but couldn't get either game in high-scoring 15-10 and 14-10 defeats at the hands of the Oilers.
Both games saw Hillsdale fall behind with big deficits early before battling back. The Chargers trailed 4-1 after the first inning and 12-4 after the fourth inning in the first game, with Findlay threatening the mercy, but Hillsdale pulled back to within three runs in the top of the fifth with a five run inning to trail just 12-9.
Pinch hitters started the rally for Hillsdale in the fifth, with
Lauren Liguori hitting a leadoff single,
Cayla Contreras driving her in with a double, and
Emily Miessner later adding two runs on a double as well.
Taylor Lewis added another RBI on a single to make it 12-9, and Hillsdale had the tying run at the plate before Findlay got out of the inning. The Chargers were back in the game, but couldn't hold down Findlay, which scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth to pull away.
The Chargers made one last attempt in the top of the seventh, with Lewis driving in a run on a RBI single to close the gap to 15-10, but that was as close as Hillsdale would get in the loss.
Lewis went 3 for 5 with a solo home run to lead off the game along with her two RBI singles,
Anna Chellman was 2 for 4 with a double and two RBIs, and
Medleigh Danchak added a solo home run as well.
Ronnie Craft and
Emma Sather each chipped in two hits for the Chargers and
Sydney Davis and
Nathalie Hagle each added a double as Hillsdale finished with 17 hits, including seven extra-base hits.
Katie Jonas (4-4) took the loss for the Chargers, with
Grace Harris,
Gracelynn Kelly and
Anistyn Foster all pitching in relief. Hillsdale outhit Findlay 17-14 but was undone by a lack of control on the mound, surrendering four walks, a hit by pitch and four wild pitches to Findlay's one walk, a difference in free bases that played a role in the outcome.
In the nightcap, Hillsdale rallied from an 8-0 deficit with a six-run top of the third inning, but never slowed down the Oilers, who scored in every inning to take a 14-10 win. Trailing by a massive deficit, Hillsdale took advantage of two Findlay errors to get back in the game, as
Sydney Davis' two-run double and
Anna Chellman's RBI double combined with those Oiler miscues to lead to a six run inning in the top of the third.
The Chargers continued to fight, closing the gap to 10-8 with a two-run home run by Lewis, her second of the day, in the top of the fourth, and kept hope alive with two more runs to make it 13-10 in the top of the sixth, including on another RBI double by Davis, but Findlay ultimately took the victory.
Lewis stayed hot with a double, a home run and three RBIs to lead Hillsdale at the plate, while Davis drove in three runs on her two doubles as well.
Mackenzi Maxson (6-5) took the loss for the Chargers, and
Anistyn Foster pitched three innings of relief with two strikeouts and no walks.
Hillsdale, now 20-15 overall and 8-4 in the G-MAC, must regroup quickly with another tough road weekend ahead. The Chargers open on Saturday with Malone, who is 5-3 in conference play and boasts the league's best overall winning percentage at 18-8 overall, before traveling on Sunday to take on Ohio Dominican, currently alone in first in the G-MAC at 8-0 overall.
