Hillsdale College Charger athletes spent a busy spring break traveling to games and meets from Tennessee to Florida. Here is a brief recap.
Baseball
The Hillsdale College baseball team traveled to Winter Haven, Fla., over spring break to take on four different teams as part of their spring training.
The team first faced Alderson-Broaddus College in a doubleheader on March 17. Alderson Broaddus took the first game 14-2, but the Chargers brought it back in the second game to win 3-0.
After a day of rest on Sunday, the Chargers went 0-4 from March 9 to 21, in games against Florida Christian College (8-2), Mount Vernon Nazarene University (18-9), and Southeastern University (5-4). The Chargers faced Florida Christian again in their final game in Florida but were defeated 11-1.
They returned to Hillsdale to take on Saginaw Valley State University in their first two GLIAC games of the season on Saturday and Sunday. Saginaw Valley defeated Hillsdale 5-0 and 4-3 in Saturday’s doubleheader. The Chargers came back in Sunday’s game but could not overcome the Cardinals and were defeated 6-5. The Chargers are at 2-13 on the season and 0-3 in GLIAC play.
Softball
The Hillsdale College softball team also traveled over the break and faced six different teams in Clermont, Fla. Hillsdale went 6-3 in Florida.
The Chargers opened their games in Florida with a win against Indiana Tech University 5-2 and a win against Lock Haven University 8-6. The Chargers notched two more wins on March 17 against Merrimack College (7-4) and Lock Haven (3-2).
Hillsdale suffered its first two losses of the trip to Augustana College (8-0) and The University of Sioux Falls (12-0) on March 19, but bounced back to beat Franklin Pierce University on March 20, 7-5. That same day, the Chargers had a rematch against Augustana but were once again defeated 4-1.
The Chargers opened GLIAC play on Friday with a sweep of Wayne State University. On Saturday they faced the University of Findlay and on Sunday, Tiffin University. Hillsdale split the doubleheaders against Findlay and Tiffin. In Saturday’s doubleheader against the Oilers, the Chargers bounced back from a 6-4 loss in the first game to win the second eight-inning game, 3-2. And against the Dragons on Sunday, the Chargers took the first game 4-1 but could not hold onto that momentum and lost the second 11-4.
The softball team is 10-9 on the season and 4-2 in GLIAC play.
Outdoor Track
The Hillsdale College track & field team kicked off their outdoor season on March 24 at Vanderbilt University’s Black and Gold Invite in Nashville, Tenn.
The highlight of the meet came with senior Jacob Secor’s first place finish in the 3,000-meter run. Sophomore Michael Shaw took sixth in the men’s 100-meter dash, and sophomore Maurice Jones clocked a 22.41 to finish third in the 200-meter dash, followed by senior Skylar Dooley in fifth.
Freshman Matthew Perkins turned in a strong performance in the 1,500-meter run finishing fifth. And freshman Matt Raffin took seventh in the 400-meter hurdles. Senior Nate English continued his momentum from successful indoor season to finish third in the men’s shot put and fourth in the discus throw.
On the women’s side, the 4×100-meter relay of junior Erin Benjamin, sophomore Kayla Caldwell, junior Becky Caywood, and senior Chelsea Wackernagel took fourth. And the women’s 4×400-meter relay of Wackernagel, Caldwell, Caywood, and Benjamin took seventh.
Wackernagel also took fourth in the pole vault, and junior Kathy Dirksen turned in a strong performance in the hammer throw, finishing eighth.
