The Hillsdale College Chargers began conference play on Saturday with two losses against the Ohio Dominican University Panthers but bounced back on Sunday with two blowout wins over the Ohio Valley University Fighting Scots.
Head Coach Kyle Gross said he was most impressed with the team’s turnaround from Saturday to Sunday.
“We kind of turned a corner in our hitting,” Gross said. “Sunday was what we’ve been looking for all season. And we know we’re not going to score 18 runs a game, but our approach and fire at the plate was what we’ve been looking for.”
Senior second baseman Amanda Marra went 9 for 13 in the four games and said she took an aggressive approach at the plate.
“I try to avoid getting behind in the count as much as possible,” Marra said. “Hitting is contagious, so the fact that my team was on fire motivated me to step up my game as well.”
Marra added she was most impressed with the team’s hitting both days.
“Even though we didn’t win the first two games against Ohio Dominican, we still scored a lot of runs against their good pitchers and proved that we can hang with the best teams in the conference,” Marra said. “I was happy to see our bats come alive after Florida.”
The Chargers are now 8-15 this season and 2-2 in the G-MAC.
Saturday, March 23 (Game 1): Ohio Dominican 8, Hillsdale 4
The Panthers’ offense overpowered the Chargers with two home runs and 10 hits. In the top of the first inning, sophomore center fielder Natalie Stepanenko dropped a fly ball and allowed the Panthers’ leadoff batter to reach first base.
Junior pitcher Dana Weidinger walked the second batter, and Ohio Dominican’s third batter singled to center field to score two unearned runs. The Chargers responded in the bottom of the second inning with a single to center field by freshman outfielder Anna Dixon to score sophomore pitcher Natalie Walters.
Senior third baseman Jessica Taylor also scored in the second inning on a wild pitch. In the bottom of the third inning, Taylor grounded out to the shortstop to score Marra.
The Panthers scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth on a steal of home, followed by a two-run home run. In the bottom of the fourth inning, junior shortstop Sam Catron grounded out the shortstop but senior left fielder Katie Kish scored.
By the start of the fifth inning, the Chargers were down by one, 5-4. The Panthers came up big in the top of the fifth inning with a three-run home run. Unable to score again, the Chargers suffered their first loss in conference play.
Weidinger faced 22 batters in 4 ⅓ innings, allowed six hits and gave up eight runs, only three of which were earned. Freshman pitcher Camryn Olson came in for relief in the middle of the fifth inning. She faced 12 batters in 2.2 innings and allowed just four hits.
Gross said the team will need to improve their defense early in games against tougher conference teams.
“We played really good defense all day,” Gross said. “But little things that happened earlier in the game can be big when it turns out to be a close game.”
Saturday, March 23 (Game 2): Ohio Dominican 7, Hillsdale 6
Despite picking up 15 hits in game two, the Chargers recorded their second loss of the day to the Panthers in a one-run game. Walters started in the circle for the Chargers and gave up a home run in the top of the first inning, giving the Panthers an early lead. The Panthers scored another run in the top of third on a double to right-center.
Hillsdale responded in the bottom of the third inning with a double from Catron to score Kish and Marra. Walters singled up the middle to score Catron, giving the Chargers their first lead of the day. Junior outfielder Victoria Addis doubled to right field to score Taylor, putting the Chargers ahead by two at the end of the third inning.
Walters gave up another home run in the top of the sixth inning. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Walters gave up a double, single, and two-run home run, allowing the Panthers to score four runs and take the lead. Walters said the pitching staff knew Ohio Dominican was a good hitting team.
“We knew they struggled as a team with offspeed pitches and went in with a plan,” Walters said. “But then we didn’t execute as well as we needed to. In the future, I think we just need to work on the execution of pitches.”
Walters faced 36 batters in seven innings for the Chargers. She allowed 13 hits and gave up seven earned runs.
Dixon gave the Chargers a chance to come back in the bottom of the seventh inning with a single to left field, scoring Catron and Marra. With two outs and bases loaded, junior catcher Syd San Juan struck out swinging to end the game. Marra said in future close games she hopes to see the team play every inning like it’s the seventh.
“If we can keep that same intensity throughout the entire game and work on cleaning up our defense a little bit, I’m confident that it’ll all come together,” Marra said. “We’ll start winning those close games.”
March 24: Hillsdale 18, Ohio Valley 2 (5 innings)
After two losses at home the day before, the Chargers came out with aggressive approach on offense in their first game against the Ohio Valley.
In the bottom of the first inning, Marra doubled to left field scoring Kish, Taylor doubled to center field and scored Marra, Stoner reached first on a throwing error and Taylor scored. Addis doubled to left field, scoring Stoner.
The Chargers came up big in the bottom of the second inning, scoring another four runs. Catron doubled to left field, scoring Marra, and Stoner doubled to center field, scoring Walters and Catron. Dixon singled to center field, scoring Taylor.
The Fighting Scots scored one run in the top of the third inning. In the third inning, Walters hit a grand slam over the left field fence, scoring Catron, Marra, and Kish.
Walters said the grand slam felt good, and the team had been focused on making in-game adjustments at the plate.
“It was nice to learn from the first at bat and take a much better approach during the second one,” Walters said.
Also in the third inning, Stoner doubled to left field, scoring freshman third baseman Elaine Townley, and freshman outfielder Rene Bielawa doubled to left center, scoring Addis and Stoner.
In the same inning, freshman Kasidy Carson singled to right field to score Bielawa, and Townley doubled to left field to score freshman outfielder Reagan Gensiejewski and sophomore first baseman Madison Rathbun.
Ohio Valley scored one unearned run on the top of the fifth inning. Weidinger faced 18 batters in four innings, allowing seven hits and one run. Olson faced six batters in one inning, allowed one hit and one unearned run.
March 24: Hillsdale 18, Ohio Valley 1 (5 innings)
In their second game of the day, the Chargers continued to dominate with a powerful offensive performance. The Chargers scored seven runs in the bottom of the first inning, giving them an early lead.
Catron singled to center field to score Kish, and Taylor singled to right field, scoring Catron and Marra. Later in the bottom of the first, Stoner doubled to left center, scoring Taylor and Walters, Johnson singled up the middle, scoring Stoner, and Bielawa singled to center field, scoring Johnson.
During the bottom of the second inning, Taylor singled through the right side to score Catron, Stoner doubled to left field to score Walters, Johnson grounded out to the second basemen but scored Taylor, and Bielawa grounded out to shortstop to score Taylor.
The Chargers scored another seven runs in the bottom of the third inning. Junior outfielder Carlin MacDonald-Gannon scored on a wild pitch, Townley singled to left center scoring Cox, San Juan singled up the middle to score Renner, and Johnson singled to left field to score Rathbun.
In the same inning, senior outfielder Carly Gouge grounded out to the first baseman, but San Juan scored. MacDonald-Gannon doubled to left field scoring Bielawa and Johnson. The Fighting Scots scored one run in the top of the fourth inning.
Walters got the start in the start in the circle for the Chargers. In three innings, she faced 11 batters, gave up one hit, and no runs. Olson faced nine batters in two innings, gave up three hits, and one run.
Up Next
The Chargers will continue conference play in Kentucky and Tennessee this weekend. Hillsdale travels to Trevecca Nazarene University for a doubleheader on Saturday at 2 and 4:30 p.m., and Kentucky Wesleyan College on Sunday for a doubleheader at noon and 2:30 p.m.
“The main thing to focus on is making sure our hitting stays consistent and our defense sharpens up,” Marra said. “If we can minimize mental mistakes and play our game, I’m confident that we’ll be successful this weekend.”