Coming off two pummeling victories against Lourdes University, the Hillsdale College softball team is gearing up for crucial conference games this weekend.
The Chargers routed Lourdes 15-3 and 14-6 Tuesday after splitting against Saginaw Valley on Friday and dropping two games at Wayne State on Saturday. The Chargers will face Ashland University, Lake Superior State University, and Northwood University in doubleheaders Friday through Sunday.
“We’re kind of hitting to the pitching we’re facing. Fortunately we’re getting runs off of pitchers we should, but we need to pick up our hitting against better pitchers if we want to finish in the top half of the league,” head coach Joe Abraham said. “Overall as a team, we need three or four more hitters to start stepping it up.”
Charger bats were hot Tuesday, when the team racked up 28 total hits in ten innings against the NAIA Gray Wolves.
“Since it was a non-conference game, we wanted to get everyone on the team in for at least one game of at bats,” Abraham said. “The pitching isn’t what it is in our league, so it’s a rare chance for our girls to gain some confidence at the plate and pile up a few statistics.”
Junior Sarah Klopfer took advantage of Tuesday’s opportunity, tying the school record for RBIs in a single game with six.
“I didn’t know of that record, and Brad [Monastiere] told me after the game. I was shocked,” Klopfer said. “During the game I don’t think much about what’s happening except for the score and what I can do to help the game.”
Klopfer went 4 for 4 with a home run in the second game of Tuesday’s home games.
“Hits are contagious,” she said. “We need to be carrying our bats with us this weekend to score needed runs, because the other teams will score too.”
Although Hillsdale didn’t win both games against Saginaw Valley Friday, they did avenge the pounding losses the Cardinals inflicted upon them in last year’s doubleheader.
“We remembered last year and how badly they beat us,” sophomore Bekah Kastning said. “It was a good opportunity to get back at them. We took the game really seriously because we weren’t going to let them run over us. In another sense, it was a new game and a new chance to prove ourselves.”
Hillsdale took the first game 4-3 before falling 5-1 in the second. Klopfer pitched and got the win in the first game.
Last Saturday, Hillsdale faced Wayne State University, who Abraham said has the best pitcher in the league.
“[Lyndsay Butler] shut us out in game one. Then, when Klopfer hit a three-run homer in game two to bring us to 3-4, they brought Butler back in and she shut us down,” he said. “She pretty much singlehandedly beat us in two games on Saturday.”
Hillsdale will now face the league’s best hitting lineup in Ashland tomorrow.
“Ashland really, really hits the ball well. They’re the best hitting team in the conference,” Abraham said. “Up to this point, Ashland has probably been the best team in the conference. It’s going to be a challenge to hold Ashland’s offense down.”