Over spring break, the Hillsdale College softball team travelled to Florida for their first games of the season.
This trip was also the team’s first time outside, due to weather in Michigan forcing them to hold all of their practices inside until their arrival in Florida.
“Given the schedule we played and the circumstances, it went as well as we could possibly have hoped,” head coach Joe Abraham said.
Hillsdale ended the tournament with their best game, Abraham said, against St. Cloud State University.
Hillsdale fell behind 1-0 in the top of the first inning, but tied it in the bottom of the first with a double by senior Kristi Gordon that allowed freshman Jessica Knepper to score.
Hillsdale went ahead in the second inning 2-1 and won the game 7-1.
“It was a great way to end a great tournament,” Gordon said.
Abraham said the win was a combination of key hits, the team’s best defensive game, and great pitching by sophomore Sarah Klopfer.
“She had their number all day,” Abraham said.
Freshman Jessie Fox said the pitchers had been working hard all winter, which was evident throughout the tournament.
Hillsdale started off the tournament on Monday, March 9, with a win against Northern State University. The 3-1 victory was due in part to a home run by junior Courtney Day.
The Chargers then lost their next three games, including losses to two nationally ranked teams. They lost 3-2 to seventh-ranked Augustana College, who had already played in 11 games before Hillsdale, and 4-2 to tenth-ranked Long Island University Post.
“It was a big deal to play against nationally ranked teams,” Gordon said. “I’m proud of how the team did against them.”
On Wednesday, Gordon said she had one of her favorite softball memories while waiting on a rain delay for a game that was ultimately cancelled.
“We had a dance off with the other team,” Gordon said. “It was a lot of fun to unwind with the other team that is usually just our opponent.”
After having both the Wednesday games cancelled, Hillsdale came back on Thursday to have their first back-to-back shutouts of Division II opponents since April 23, 2003. They beat Southwest Minnesota State University 2-0, and Glenville State College 1-0.
The pitching against both teams was crucial to Hillsdale’s victories. Junior Katie Ardrey pitched a complete game shutout against Southwest Minnesota St., allowing only four hits. Klopfer also pitched a complete game shutout against Glenville St., with two strikeouts and only three hits.
Abraham said the team made mental base-running mistakes throughout the tournament that
they will be working to correct before taking on the league.
“It was frustrating, because we like to pride ourselves on playing smart,” Abraham said.
Fox said these mistakes were due in part to this being the team’s first games of the season and should go away soon.
Hillsdale hopes to begin league play at the University of Findlay on Saturday, but Gordon said the game could be cancelled or moved to another location due to the field conditions.
Gordon said one of Findlay’s coaches, Laura Homan, graduated from Hillsdale in 2012. As a pitcher for Hillsdale, Homan earned Second-Team All Conference her senior year.
“We are expecting to win,” Gordon said
