TIFFIN, Ohio – It was quite an exciting afternoon as Tiffin softball executed a pair of walk-off wins over Hillsdale by scores of 7-6 (10 innings) and 4-3 on Saturday.
With the wins, the Dragons have now won eight in a row, and have moved up to third in the GMAC standings with a 13-5 conference record and 23-12 overall mark on the season.
Tiffin had trouble figuring out Hillsdale starter Camryn Olson through the first five innings of game one, only managing three hits and being held off the scoreboard. The Chargers plated one run each in the first, second, and third innings before putting up a three-spot in the top of the sixth to take a 6-0 lead.
With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Jamie Sevenish was able to reach first on an error by the Charger shortstop, stole second, and advanced to third on a flyout by Libby Crow. Down to their last four outs, TU then came up with a clutch two-out rally.
Chloe Swaisgood plated the first run with an RBI single, followed by a Kaylee Savage RBI double. With runners on second and third, Gabby Hess knocked a two-RBI double to deep center, and then would also score as Abbey Zedaker reached safely on Hillsdale's second error of the inning to cut the deficit to 6-5.
That was all the Dragons got in the sixth, and came up in the bottom of the seventh in desperate need of the tying run. The first two batters were retired quickly, though, bringing up Crow as TU's last chance. With the game on the line, the senior launched a solo homer well over the fence in right field to tie the game at six and send it to extra innings.
Neither team was able to score in the eighth and ninth frames, leading to a runner being placed on second base for each team at the beginning of the tenth. The Dragons quickly erased that lead runner in the top of the inning on a sharp grounder to Heidi Marshall, as she quickly fired to Swaisgood at second and caught the runner too far off the base.
Tiffin was able to bunt their runner over to third in the bottom of the inning, putting the winning run one base away with one out. Hillsdale decided to intentionally walk the next two Dragons to load the bases and have a force at every base, but it did not pan out as Hess walked to force in the winning run and give Tiffin the 7-6 victory.
Sarah Klein put forth an incredible effort on the mound on her birthday, going all ten innings and throwing 153 pitches to earn the win. Swaisgood and Sevenish both had multihit games for the Dragons, while Hess tallied three RBI.
Game two was another thrilling affair, starting with Tiffin taking a 3-1 lead through the first three innings on RBI from Hayley Kobie, Heidi Marshall, and Chloe Swaisgood.
Hillsdale tied things up in the bottom of the sixth on an unearned run, however, and the game went to the seventh appearing as if it might also go into extra frames.
The Chargers threatened in the top half of the inning, getting a runner on third with just one out. Victoria Edwards started the game for Tiffin, but was relieved by Klein, who then got a huge strikeout and popup to end the inning.
Gabby Hess walked to open the bottom of the frame and advanced to second on Marshall's sacrifice. Kirsten Georges followed with a single to put runners on the corners with one out, and Brooke Lambert quickly gave the Dragons their second walk-off winner of the day with a single up the middle to take the 4-3 win.
Hess and Kobie each had two hits and an RBI in game two to lead Tiffin offensively, while Klein got her second win of the afternoon after entering with the game tied.
The Dragons look to keep their winning streak going next Friday when they host Ursuline for a doubleheader starting at 3:00 p.m.