The Hillsdale softball team lost its last game of the fall season in an out-of-conference matchup against the Michigan State University Spartans.
“Michigan State is a Power Five school in the Big Ten which is a division above us,” Gross said. “It was fun to play at their stadium and just get a great experience for our girls.”
According to head coach Kyle Gross, it was an exhibition game of 10 innings that were split into two, five-inning games. The Chargers lost both games — the first 4-0 and the second 11-0.
Gross said the team played hard and it was good to see them fight all the way through the games.
According to Gross, the starting pitcher for the Spartans was in the running for Big Ten pitcher of the year, with 200 strikeouts in the Big Ten.
“It was very tough facing that caliber of pitching,” Gross said. “That’s not typically what we see every day, but we competed against it. We still had a few hits and we got runners in scoring position twice, but just never scored.”
The Chargers fared well in the first inning. Sophomore pitcher Joni Russel pitched four innings, with five strikeouts. The team also recorded a double play, and in the beginning of the first inning, junior catcher McKenna Eichholz threw a runner out trying to steal second.
Eichholz said she was proud of her performance on Friday.
“I caught one of my best games,” Eichholz said. “I threw a girl out stealing second, which is always something to be proud of. I also hit a double off the MSU pitchers who are ranked 20th in the NCAA.”
Junior pitcher and team captain Erin Kapteyn said preparing to fight against the Spartans was not any different than playing teams in the G-MAC.
“I went in with the same mentality I normally have, where the school on the front of someone’s jersey doesn’t matter,” Kapteyn said. “But I knew it was going to be tougher competition.”
Kapteyn said the fall season highlighted the team’s potential to be one of the top competitors in the G-MAC this spring.
“This fall also showed our downfalls and what we have to work on in the off season to be successful,” Kapteyn said.
The team has a schedule of 50 games in the spring, many of them being in the South early in the season.
“We will also play some new teams this year that we haven’t played in the last four years,” Gross said. “That’s going to be pretty exciting.”
Eichholz said the Chargers are determined to have a successful spring season again.
“With our team winning the regular season last year, we have made it known that we not only want to win the regular season, but also the G-MAC tournament,” Eichholz said.
The first spring game will be Feb. 10 against the Tusculum University Pioneers in Tusculum, Tennessee.
