Freshman Sydney Davis had three hits vs. Illinois-Springfield. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department
The softball team won three of four games over the weekend at the University of Illinois Springfield, with junior Joni Russell breaking the Hillsdale strikeout record.
In a Saturday doubleheader, the Chargers defeated the University of Illinois Springfield Prairie Stars 7-6 and 10-0 consecutively. Sunday, they split games against the Quincy University Hawks, first losing 8-5, then winning 5-0. The Chargers’ overall record this season is 6-6.
The Prairie Stars knocked the Chargers out of the NCAA playoffs last year in a 5-0 shutout, so Saturday was validating for the Chargers, according to Coach Kyle Gross.
“We played pretty good against them last year but the difference this year was our hitting,” Gross said.
Russell said the team’s energy was high during these games against the Prairie Stars.
“From the start of the first game our bats were hot and the energy was high,” Russell said. “You could tell everyone on the team was genuinely excited to be there and playing.”
Sophomore Taylor Lewis, senior Hailey Holtman, senior McKenna Eichholz, junior Hannah Hoverman, senior Grace Wallner, freshman Sydney Davis, sophomore Emma Sather, sophomore Maggie Olaveson, and junior Emma Vis scored runs. Senior Erin Kapteyn, junior Joni Russell, and sophomore Mackenzi Maxson pitched for the Chargers.
Russell set a new career strikeout record for Hillsdale with 478 strikeouts. She is set to be the first pitcher for the Chargers to break 500 strikeouts this season and was named GMAC pitcher of the week. Russell is also the first Charger to receive the Wilson/National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division II Co-Pitcher of the Week.
“It’s an amazing honor and super cool to be recognized on a national level,” Russell said.
Gross attributes the first-game loss to the Hawks to Charger mistakes, which he believes the team fixed to win the second game.
“We made more defensive mistakes than we could overcome in that first game,” Gross said. “In the second game, we did what we needed to do to scratch across runs.”
Vis said defense improved in the second game.
“Our defense was better the second game, as was our hitting,” Vis said. “We just had a few more hits that we strung together [in the second game] so we were able to score more runs.”
During spring break the Chargers will travel to Florida and compete in four games. They are scheduled to play the Rollins College Tars, Florida Southern College Mocsies, Eckerd College Tritons, Slippery Rock University Lions, Purdue University Northwest Lions, Shepard University Rams, and Saint Anselm College Hawks throughout the week.
Gross said he looks forward to competing against Rollins and Purdue Northwest. He said he wants to see how the Chargers hold up against Rollins, a top 25 nationally ranked team.
The Chargers lost 2-0 to Purdue Northwest in February. Gross said he wants to even the score next week.
“We are hoping to avenge that loss [against Purdue Northwest] down in Florida,” Gross said.