Sophomore Nathalie Hagle
Courtesy | Hillsdale Athletic Department
The Hillsdale College softball team won all six of its games, beating Northwood University on the road March 25 and Ursuline College and Cedarville University at home March 29-30, giving the team an eight-game win streak and bringing its conference record to 8-0.
The Chargers broke a school record by hitting five home runs in a 13-9 victory against Cedarville.
Senior outfielder Maggie Olaveson hit two home runs, and sophomore catcher Olivia Ligouri, senior infielder Anna Chellman, and junior catcher Medleigh Danchak each had one.
“Our offense has been incredible lately, and if we keep hitting like we are, we’re bound to continue to have success on the field,” freshman Emily Miessner said.
The other game against Cedarville University ended in a 9-1 Hillsdale victory. Sophomore catcher Nathalie Hagle’s performance against Cedarville earned her the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Softball Player of the Week award. Olaveson said the softball team took these games to practice resilience.
“Cedarville’s strategy appeared to be centered on out-hitting us, likely because they lacked the pitching depth to consistently stop our offense,” Olaveson said. “However, our pitchers kept them off balance, and combined with our strong defensive play, their approach was not effective.”
Head coach Kyle Gross said he cherished the two wins against Cedarville, as they have been a threat currently in the conference.
“Cedarville has brushed off some of the lesser record teams in the G-MAC, and they have been playing well and late,” Gross said “They had a little rough start to the season, but they’re hitting the ball really well in conference play right now.”
The Chargers opened the series against Northwood University with a back-and-forth 10-9 win. Northwood was able to rally six runs in the sixth and seventh innings, but the Chargers pushed on with scoring two runs in the ninth.
“In the first game, senior middle infielder Taylor Lewis started us off with a home run, and Hagle had one later in the game, bringing in two runs,” Meissner said. “The first game was definitely nail-biting since it got close, but Anistyn Foster was able to finish up the game and seal the win.”
Olaveson also said Northwood’s strategy in the first game was to cycle its pitchers to throw off the Charger’s rhythm while they slowly accumulated runs. The Chargers took notice of Northwood’s special strategy and readjusted in the second game, securing an 11-2 victory.
Olveson said Ursuline also took Northwood’s strategy of outpitching Hillsdale’s offensive potential, and it had the strength and the skill to make that possible.
“We knew their number one pitcher had been effective against other teams in the G-MAC, so we prepared ahead of time for how we wanted to approach our at-bats,” Olaveson said. “She relied heavily on hard inside pitches, and because of our preparation, we were able to adjust and handle that effectively during the game.”
The third game against Ursuline was a 5-3 win, and Meissner said the victory was thanks to sophomore pitcher Grace Harris.
“Even though Ursuline scored first in the first game, we were able to take that lead back by properly executing a first-and-third play which took their lead away in the first inning,” Meissner said. “Harris did a great job coming in as relief in the fifth inning and not allowing another run to score through the rest of the game.”
The fourth game rematching Ursuline consisted of a six-inning game ending 14-6 in Hillsdale’s favor. This was thanks to the team gaining five runs in the first inning, Meissner said.
“Part of that first inning was a bases-clearing double from Maggie Olaveson,” Meissner said. “I’d again name sophomore Ronnie Craft as our MVP of the second game, because she walked it off for us with a double, allowing us to end it in six innings against Ursuline.”
Gross said the underclassmen teammates have been realizing their true potential in these games, thanks to consistent practice and mentorship from the more experienced players.
“I am proud of Craft for stealing bases and hitting with power this week, starting with Northwood,” Gross said. “I am also proud of freshman Ava Strip. She comes in almost every game defensively towards the end and gets sent back here. She’s so strong, and then the more pitching she sees at this level, the better she’s going to get.”
The Chargers are preparing to face off against Tiffin University and University of Findlay April 3 and 4 in Ohio.
