The softball team’s chance to make it to the GLIAC tournament next weekend hinges on its performance this weekend against Ferris State and Grand Valley State Universities.
Hillsdale sits perilously in eighth place with a 12-10 conference record after splitting key games with Lake Erie College on Tuesday. The Chargers need to win three of this weekend’s home four games to have a good chance at continuing their season.
“There’s a whole bunch of teams around the .500 mark or a little over it,” head coach Joe Abraham said. “Us giving a game away to Lake Erie combined with Tiffin sweeping Walsh and Findlay splitting with Ashland added up to a disaster for us yesterday: We went from an almost sure bet of being in the tournament to now, where we’re really up against it.”
Hillsdale split with Walsh University on Saturday before dominating Malone with two wins Sunday. The Chargers lost to Walsh 4-6 before blanking them 5-0. Against Malone, Hillsdale won 6-3 and 12-3 thanks to a big first inning of game two, where Hillsdale racked up seven runs.
“The pitcher was putting the ball right there, so it was easy to tee off on. We play well in good weather,” sophomore Bekah Kastning said.
Kastning, junior Sarah Grunert, and junior Sarah Klopfer all contributed two hits each on the day. The team contributed eight RBIs total.
“We hit really well,” Grunert said of the win.
On Tuesday, the Storm took the first game 4-1 before the Chargers battled back to win the second 6-2.
“Their pitcher in game one shut us down completely. We couldn’t lay off her rise ball. But if you’re going to be a team that hopes to compete at the top of the league, you have to sweep Lake Erie,” Abraham said.
Looking ahead to this weekend, Hillsdale will face Ferris State, ranked two spots behind Hillsdale with a GLIAC record of 8-11. Saturday brings a match-up with the GVSU Lakers, ranked fourth in the league at 13-8.
“Ferris is a couple of games below us; they’ve mostly struggled this year. But the league is so close that it’s no big deal for anybody to beat anybody,” Abraham said. “This is softball, not football or basketball, where you can physically dominate a team.”
The Chargers’ last home action — and deciding games for tournament berth— will be all at Johnny Williams Field, Friday at 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
