The Hillsdale College women’s softball team lost both games of the doubleheader to the no. 7 nationally-ranked Wayne State University.
The Chargers lost the first game 0-3, only able to get two hits off of Wayne State’s pitcher, Lyndsay Butler.
Heach coach Joe Abraham said Butler is one of the best pitchers in the country, and has been shutting out most teams.
Hillsdale began the second game up 1-0 when sophomore Ainsley Ellison scored on a double by freshman Bekah Kastning.
“There aren’t many pitchers at the DII level that she can’t hit,” Abraham said. “There might not be any.”
Wayne State took the lead 2-1 in the top of the third inning, but Hillsdale was able to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth when sophomore Danielle Garceau scored on a double by Ellison.
The game remained tied, forcing extra innings, until Wayne State scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning to win the game.
“We were David’s granddaughter going up against Goliath himself,” Abraham said. “And we just about slayed him.”
Going into Tuesday’s games against Wayne State, Hillsdale had lost the doubleheader to Ohio Dominican University on Sunday.
In the first game, Hillsdale fell behind 3-0 going into the bottom of the third inning.
Home runs by both sophomore Sarah Grunert and junior Kate Ardrey in the bottom of the third brought Hillsdale within one point of Ohio Dominican.
“We kind of spiraled out of control at the end,” Ellison said. Ohio Dominican scored 2 runs in the fifth inning, 3 runs in the sixth inning, and 3 in the seventh to win the game 11-2.
In the second game, sophomore Sarah Klopfer kept Ohio Dominican scoreless until the sixth inning.
“Sarah Klopfer pitched an excellent game, but we only scored one run,” Abraham said. “It’s hard to expect a shutout every time.”
Ellison scored in the third inning on a single by Ardrey, giving Hillsdale a 1-0 lead going into the sixth inning when Ohio Dominican scored.
The Panthers scored again in the bottom of the seventh to win the game 2-1.
“We really need to hit more in clutch situations,” Grunert said. “We have the potential to do a lot more offensively.”
Hillsdale was scheduled to play Tiffin University on Saturday, March 29, but due to weather, the games were rescheduled for April 15, to be played at home.
Hillsdale plays at Malone University on Saturday, April 5.
“We handled Malone pretty easily last year,” Abraham said, “but apparently they have some good freshmen.”
Hillsdale then plays Ashland University on April 6.
“We are not scoring enough runs to win games right now,” Ellison said, “but that will come around.”
