The Hillsdale College softball team went 7-1 in its four doubleheaders the past week, finally bringing the team past the .500 mark with an 18-16 record.
The Chargers started by splitting games with Walsh University on Friday, winning the first 3-1, and losing the second 6-5.
On Saturday, Hillsdale swept Lake Erie College, winning the first 10-2 and the second 9-3 .
In the games against Lake Erie, sophomore Ainsley Ellison tied alumna Sharyl Loose’s single season stolen bases record from 1990 with 17 stolen bases in the season, four of them against Lake Erie.
“I had no idea I was even close,” Ellison said. “I found out after the game because people were texting me congratulations.”
Ellison broke the record in the first inning of Monday’s doubleheader against Lourdes College, with her 18th stolen base this season.
“She put in a lot of hard work training in the off-season,” senior Kristi Gordon said. “I’m proud of her.”
Ellison stole five bases against Lourdes and two against Tiffin, bringing her current season total to 24, and putting her easily in 1st for the GLIAC.
“We like to get speed and use it, so we tend to compile a lot of stolen bases,” head coach Joe Abraham said.
Hillsdale has stolen 74 bases in 34 games, with 15 in each of the doubleheaders against Lake Erie and Lourdes. They are in the top 25 of 270 teams in Division II for stolen bases.
Hillsdale swept Lourdes 10-1 in the first game, and 12-6 in the second game, giving the team a .500 winning record for the first time since the opening tournament in Florida.
The Chargers continued their winning streak to six games by sweeping Tiffin University on Wednesday, winning the first game 3-2 and the second 1-0.
Hillsdale plays its final two doubleheaders at home this weekend against Grand Valley State University on Friday and Ferris State University on Saturday.
Saturday will be senior day, honoring Gordon and junior Emily Pillivant, who is graduating after the fall semester, making this her last season.
Pillivant’s career has been plagued by injuries, forcing her to sit out for most of last season and all of this season.
“She has been of indescribable help to the team this year,” Abraham said. “If anyone on campus would like to apply for the job of being Emily Pillivant, let me know.”
Assistant coach Erin Porter said her shoes would be nearly impossible to fill.
Gordon was honorable mention All-GLIAC last season, and provided several key hits this season, Abraham said.
“I love my teammates to death,” Gordon said. “They’ve become my family.”
It is unlikely that the team will make the GLIAC tournament this season, Gordon said.
“Our girls deserve so much credit for getting to this point with all the adversity they faced,” Abraham said. “They had the entire deck stacked against them coming into the season and they persevered. However we finish, we have an extremely bright future.”
