Courtesy: Lang White Photography
The Charger softball team won three out of five games in Chicago at the Lewis Dome Invitational Feb. 20-22, the best record there for Hillsdale softball in the last seven years, moving their overall season record to 5-5.
At the invitational, the Chargers competed against Bemidji State University, Quincy University, Upper Iowa University, University of Minnesota Duluth, and Truman State University.
The final game of the series was against Truman State, where the Chargers sought to make up for their 12-0 loss with them from last year. Head coach Kyle Gross said since the Chargers have a history with this team, they were ready to face them.
“We started off hot, but then they put in a new pitcher and we had to adjust,” Gross said. “It was definitely a different style pitcher, and we did what we had to do. You know, it wasn’t more than grinding it out and grinning it out.”
Gross congratulated the efforts of sophomore catcher Olivia Liguori for hitting an RBI groundout, and junior middle infielder Sydney Davis for hitting two doubles and two RBI’s.
“Olivia had the creativity to hit a ground ball to the backside,” Gross said. “She’s a power hitter, but knew that was what needed to be done in the game.Then Sydney almost hit a home run. She’s no power hitter, but she hit a ball that went off the fence for a double that and she went 2 for 2 that game.”
The Chargers won 5-3, redeeming themselves after last year’s loss.
The Chargers lost the first game of the series against Bemidji State University 4-3, but sophomore catcher Nathalie Hagle hit her first collegiate home run, a two-run shot.
“This was a bad game for us,” sophomore outfielder Ronnie Craft said. “In the 7th inning, we got walked off, but throughout the game we left 10 runners on base. We will need to work on making sure our batters come home next time.”
The second game was a 10-5 win against Quincy, thanks to sophomore pitcher Grace Harris finishing a 1-2-3 7th inning with a strikeout to end the game.
“All hitters in the lineup hit amazingly, making adjustments at the plate with senior middle infielder Taylor Lewis going 3 for 3 with three hits,” Craft said.
The third game against Upper Iowa saw Liguori start her season hitting a home run, leading the Chargers to a 4-3 win.
The Chargers lost 5-2 to University of Minnesota Duluth as Duluth added two late insurance runs in the 7th inning.
“Practicing outside on turf has really improved our defense overall,” senior infielder Anna Chellman said. “We are able to have more realistic situations, and it translated well into playing in Chicago. We communicated a lot better and were able to stop a lot more hard-hit ground balls than we did in Texas.”
Chellman said the Chargers’ greatest strength was their ability to adapt to the various different pitching styles.
The Chargers will travel to St. Louis, Mo. for the Maryville Invitational where they will play Maryville University, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, and Purdue University Northwest March 7-8.
