A breakout season for Hillsdale College softball sophomore Maggie Olaveson keeps gaining steam.
The latest accolade for the Chargers' left fielder came on Monday afternoon, as Olaveson was named G-MAC Softball Player of the Week for the first time in her career, the conference office announced.
Olaveson had a sensational weekend for Hillsdale as the Chargers swept past visiting Lake Erie and Ursuline to improve to 32-12 overall, and 18-4 in G-MAC play. The sophomore hit .600 across both doubleheaders and blasted three home runs against the Storm, including two in back-to-back at-bats in a 5-1 Hillsdale victory in the first game. For the weekend, Olaveson finished with four RBIs and four runs scored.
Those three home runs gave Olaveson 13 for the year, tied for the G-MAC lead and tied for third-most in a single season in program history, behind only two former All-Americans -- Jessica Guertin with 15 in 2010, and Sam Catron with 14 in 2021. Her current slugging percentage of .775 would rank third all-time at Hillsdale if the season ended today.
But Olaveson has been more than a power hitter for the Chargers this season, leading Hillsdale in hits (55), runs (33), doubles (13), RBIs (35) and on-base percentage (.455) while batting .399 for the year. It's a massive leap for a player who showed promise in a part-time starting role as a freshman in 2023 and is now paying off that promise in a big way in 2024 as one of the most intimidating hitters for opposing pitchers to face in the entire conference.
Hillsdale finishes the regular season with a doubleheader at Northwood on Saturday and will be no worse than a three seed in the upcoming G-MAC Tournament the following week at Firestone Stadium in Akron, and Olaveson will take aim at the Chargers' home run record with what should be several chances over the next few weeks as Hillsdale looks to defend its 2023 G-MAC Tournament title and reach the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four seasons.
Photo by Morgan Hoverman