MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The Hilbert College softball team opened play at the Fastpitch Dreams Classic on Friday with a pair of contests at the North Myrtle Beach Sports Complex, falling to Grove City College in the opener before dropping a 9-2 decision to Columbia College (S.C.) in the afternoon game.
Despite the results, several Hawks turned in solid performances across the two games.
Jazlynn Soliz led the Hilbert offense on the day, going 3-for-6 with a home run, triple, two RBI, and a stolen base against Columbia.
Madison Esmond collected a pair of hits and scored a run across the two contests, while
Shelby Schimek added a hit in the opener. In the circle,
Stephanie Mirras delivered a strong relief outing in game two, striking out five over four innings while allowing just one hit.
1 – Grove City 9, Hilbert 0 (5 innings)
Grove City capitalized on early scoring opportunities and defensive miscues to secure a 9-0 win in the opening game of the day.
Wolverines struck first in the opening inning when Zoey Lindner singled to drive in a run. Grove City broke the game open in the second inning, scoring four runs highlighted by an RBI double from Evelyn Montone and an RBI single by Abigail Meadors to build a 5-0 advantage.
Grove City added two more runs in the third inning before extending the lead with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to seal the run-rule victory.
Hilbert was limited to two hits in the contest, with
Madison Esmond and
Shelby Schimek each recording a single.
In the circle,
Kimberly Bentley took the loss after working three innings, while
Kailey Stolowski provided relief in the fourth.
Game 2 – Columbia (S.C.) 9, Hilbert 2
Columbia jumped out early and held off Hilbert for a 9-2 victory in the Hawks' second game of the day.
The Koalas plated two runs in the first inning and added another in the second before erupting for four runs in the third to stretch the lead to 7-0.
Hilbert responded in the bottom of the third when
Jazlynn Soliz blasted a solo home run to right field to get the Hawks on the board. The Hawks added another run in the fifth inning as Soliz delivered again with an RBI triple to right field that scored
Madison Esmond and trimmed the deficit to 7-2.
Columbia tacked on two insurance runs in the seventh inning to close out the scoring.
Hilbert totaled six hits in the game, led by Soliz, who finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and two extra-base hits.
Ava Higgins and
Kaitlin Stolowski each added a hit for the Hawks.
In the circle,
Stephanie Mirras provided an effective relief effort, striking out five over four innings while allowing just one hit.
Hilbert will continue play at the Fastpitch Dreams Classic on Saturday with another pair of games against New Jersey City University (10 am) and Delaware Valley University (2 pm).
