For the second week in a row, and the third time this season, Hillsdale College softball pitcher Joni Russell is bringing home honors from the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
Russell was a no-doubt repeat winner of the G-MAC Softball Pitcher of the Week honor, announced by the G-MAC on Monday afternoon, after one of the finest starts in program history in a 4-0 win over Malone this past Saturday.
The sophomore posted her third-straight shutout in G-MAC play to beat the Pioneers, striking out a school-record 19 of the 24 batters she faced in the victory and allowing just two walks and one hit. Those 19 strikeouts surpass the old record of 18 set by Sarah DeAngelo against Kalamazoo College on April 11, 2001, and are also five more than any other G-MAC pitcher in a single game this season.
For the season, Russell is putting up unreal numbers for the Chargers. She leads the G-MAC in earned run average (0.67), strikeouts (153) and batting average against (.168), and has conceded just one earned run in six conference starts. Her ERA ranks fourth in the nation at the NCAA DII level so far, and her 153 strikeouts rank ninth among all pitchers at the NCAA DII level.
Not even through her sophomore season with the Chargers, Russell is rapidly moving up the list of all-time greats at Hillsdale College. Her 153 strikeouts in 2023 so far are the sixth-most in a single season at Hillsdale College, while her 0.67 ERA, if maintained, would be the second-lowest by a Chargers pitcher in a single season in program history, behind only Doreen Wiedemann's 0.49 in 1991. In terms of career numbers, in not even two seasons Russell already has climbed into fifth all-time in career strikeouts, with 313, well within striking distance of DeAngelo's school record of 474 set from 1998-2001. Her 25 wins also rank 10th all-time at Hillsdale, and her eight shutouts are tied for seventh.
The Chargers (21-15) are finishing up a Monday afternoon doubleheader against Davenport currently, and return to G-MAC play this Friday with a trip to Trevecca Nazarene for a showdown with a fellow G-MAC title contender.
Photo by Regan Meyer