Schedule
#2 Hillsdale College (34-12, 20-4 G-MAC) vs #7 Tiffin (28-22, 14-12 GMAC) | 2:30 p.m. ET Wednesday, May 1 | Firestone Stadium – Akron, Ohio
Full Bracket and Tournament Schedule at G-MAC Championship Central.
Links
Hillsdale Roster | Tiffin Roster | Hillsdale Stats | Tiffin Stats | Live Stats and Video Links | G-MAC Standings | G-MAC Stats
Outlook
The Hillsdale College softball team looks to defend its 2023 title at the 2024 G-MAC Tournament in Akron, Ohio this weekend, entering the opening round on Wednesday in the same spot they were in last season – as the second seed and in strong form heading into the tournament.
The Chargers finished G-MAC play at 20-4 overall, their most wins ever in conference play and, with 34 regular season wins, their most wins overall entering the tournament since putting up 36 victories in 1991. Only a stellar campaign by G-MAC regular-season champion Trevecca Nazarene kept Hillsdale from their second title in three years. An excellent pitching staff and an offense that's caught fire and is putting up big power numbers over the last month has Hillsdale dreaming of a repeat tourney crown.
Hillsdale has a strong history in past G-MAC Tournaments, winning the title three times in five editions (2018, 2019, and 2023) and boasting a 14-5 record all-time in the event, which they've participated in every year it's been held since the Chargers joined the conference in 2018. The Chargers' three tourney titles are second only to Trevecca Nazarene's four.
In the last six G-MAC Tournaments, including every one since the conference expanded to its current size in 2018, the top seed has failed to win the title. Trevecca Nazarene, at 41-11 and fresh off a dominant conference run, will look to change that this year, but face stiff competition, led by Hillsdale. This year, the tournament returns to Akron Firestone Stadium for the first time since 2019 after three seasons at the Marathon Diamonds in Findlay.
The Chargers open the 2024 Tournament with a contest against seventh-seeded Tiffin at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Hillsdale swept the Dragons in a road doubleheader on April 10 at a time when Tiffin was struggling with injuries, but Tiffin has healed up since then and closed on a six-game winning streak to secure a spot in the tournament.
Tiffin ranks 7th in the G-MAC in batting average (.286) and 8th in ERA (3.56) against conference opponents, though those numbers have been skewed somewhat by those aforementioned injuries, as two of the Dragons' most important hitters, freshman Jules King and junior Maci Head, both missed multiple games for the Dragons in conference play. Along with those two players, Tiffin has a tough lineup, led by senior second baseman Maddie Woods, who leads the Dragons in batting average (.391) and RBIs (22) in conference play. Freshman Reagan Mengerink is another high average hitter at .352, while sophomore Molly Koesters has a team-high five home runs and a .307 batting average against G-MAC foes, and junior Aubrie Harper can hit with power as well.
On the mound, the return of King makes a big difference for Tiffin, as the freshman is Tiffin's best pitcher with a 13-6 record, a 2.82 ERA and 156 strikeouts. The last time King pitched, she threw a perfect game against Lake Erie, and this will be Hillsdale's first time seeing her as she was not healthy enough to pitch against the Chargers in April. No. 2 starter Claire Feldkamp is an accomplished veteran who the Dragons could turn to if King falters, and freshman Lexi Key is another relief option for Tiffin.
Win or lose, the Chargers will play again on Thursday – with a victory, against the winner of the Wednesday matchup between third-seeded Ohio Dominican and sixth-seeded Cedarville at 12:30 p.m., or, if Hillsdale loses, in an elimination matchup against the loser of that 3-6 contest at 10 a.m.
Third-seeded Ohio Dominican has a strong pitching staff, with the second-best ERA in the G-MAC after Hillsdale, and will be motivated for revenge after taking two shutout losses to the Chargers at home if they get a rematch. The Panthers have two strong starters on the mound in senior Addison Smodilla and sophomore Marlee Jacobs, and the luxury of a true closer in senior Grace Hammer, one of the top pitchers in the G-MAC. While the pitching staff has kept pace with the best in the G-MAC, however, ODU will need more offensively to knock off the top teams in the tournament, and will look to veteran stars Kaleigh Golden, Alli Madden and Alexis Stevens to have a big weekend.
ODU will have a tough fight to get to the second round against sixth-seeded Cedarville, who will be an especially tough out with ace Casey Bertke on the mound in the first game. Bertke already shut down ODU once this season in a 5-1 Cedarville win back in March, and gives the Yellow Jackets a chance against anyone in the bracket if an offense led by Bertke's younger sister, Dana and senior Kaley Clark can manufacture enough runs.
On the other side of the bracket, top-seeded Trevecca Nazarene is a heavy favorite as it looks to become the first No. 1 seed to win the G-MAC Tourney since 2016, and, potentially, the first G-MAC team to host a NCAA Regional. The Trojans have the presumptive conference Player of the Year in Kendall Andrews and the presumptive pitcher of the year in Ashlan Sensing, as well as additional standouts at the plate in Addy Grace Summers and Anna Bennett. They'll be tough for anyone to stop.
The Trojans open with eighth-seeded Malone on Wednesday, as a young Pioneers team returns to the G-MAC Tournament for the first time since 2021 on the strength of a freshman pitching duo of Mia Rose and Grace Kissick that's impressed this year, as well as an opportunistic offense led by Amber Miller and Faith Yoho, who are both hitting .375 or better on the season.
The final matchup pits Northwood against Findlay in the 4-5 game.
Fourth-seeded Northwood was a serious contender for much of the G-MAC season, but sweeps at the hands of the Chargers and Panthers dropped them back in the race. The Timberwolves can lean on one of the G-MAC's top pitchers in ace Emily Cox, who gives them a real chance to make a deep run, while Brittani Mutter and Brynn Polega are also good options out of the bullpen. Offensively, Brittany Steimel and Ashley Ziel lead a Timberwolves lineup that's been good at the plate this season but will need to be great this weekend to bring home the title.
Fifth-seeded Findlay has battled all the way back from a 4-8 start in G-MAC play, going 13-1 in the final seven doubleheaders of the regular season in conference play to make the tournament field with ease. The Oilers have one of the league's top offenses, led by two .400 hitters in Alexys Antal and Annika Bredel, and have built up an underrated pitching staff as Antal also has developed into a bonafide ace and Molly Piffner and Emma Jones give Findlay depth. The Oilers will be looking for revenge on Northwood after the Timberwolves swept a doubleheader against Findlay in mid-March.
Hillsdale's hopes of a repeat title rest on an incredibly balanced team that can lean on arguably the G-MAC's best pitching staff all-around and a strong offense that is on a record-setting power pace. Hillsdale leads the G-MAC in staff ERA at 1.93 and boasts two ace level pitchers in junior Joni Russell, a consensus returning All-American that finished in the top five in the country in both strikeouts and ERA and earned G-MAC Pitcher of the Year honors in 2023, and senior Erin Kapteyn, who capped a 2023 season that saw her put up a 1.95 ERA and record 13 wins with her second-straight All-G-MAC honor.
Both those players have continued to be lights out in 2024 to keep Hillsdale right in the thick of the G-MAC title race. Russell became the career strikeouts leader for both Hillsdale and the G-MAC earlier this season and is 17-5 with a G-MAC-leading 220 strikeouts and a 1.42 ERA, while Kapteyn has a career-high eight shutouts and is 15-5 with three saves and a 1.86 ERA as well. With Russell and Kapteyn, the Chargers pose a huge problem for any opponent, one that compounded by the fact that Hillsdale is also scoring runs at a high clip over the last month.
The Chargers offense has also developed into a formidable unit for opposing teams to deal with during a 14-2 stretch over the last 16 games. Sophomore Maggie Olaveson has exploded in her second season, leading the Chargers in batting average (.387), hits (55), doubles (13), home runs (13), RBIs (35), and OBP (.453) while playing at an All-American level, and freshman Sydney Davis has impressed in her first season, with 10 doubles and a .357 average.
A murderer's row of power hitters in the middle of the lineup has made life tough for Hillsdale's opponents. Junior Hannah Hoverman is in the top 10 for a single season for Hillsdale with eight home runs, junior Emma Vis has six and seniors Grace Wallner and McKenna Eichholz have a combined 24 extra base hits and 55 RBIs. Near the top of the lineup, sophomore Taylor Lewis also has been on a tear recently, with 11 doubles and a team-high 15 stolen bases. As a team, Hillsdale has tied the program record for a single-season set in 2021 with 37, and will look to surpass this weekend during a deep run.
Photo by Reva Ludwig