Another strong season for the Hillsdale College softball team has the Chargers competing today in the 2024 G-MAC Tournament as the second seed, looking to bring home a second-straight G-MAC Tournament title.
That great regular season performance -- a 34-12 overall mark and a 20-4 conference record -- is already paying dividends for the Chargers as Hillsdale was well-represented in the 2024 G-MAC softball awards, announced today at the site of the tournament in Akron.
Four Chargers were recognized with all-conference honors on Wednesday -- two first-team honorees and two second-team honorees. Both halves of Hillsdale's dominant pitching duo earned honors from the G-MAC, as junior Joni Russell was a first-team honoree as pitcher for the third season in a row, while senior Erin Kapteyn was a second-team honoree for the third straight season.
Russell, a consensus All-American in 2023, had another excellent season for the Chargers in 2024, posting a 17-5 record overall, with a 1.42 ERA and 220 strikeouts to 38 walks in 138.1 innings pitched, with five shutouts. The junior was 9-2 in G-MAC play and led the conference in strikeouts, both overall and in conference play. Russell's strikeout prowess led to a record-breaking campaign in 2024 for the junior, who broke both Hillsdale's career strikeout record of 474 held by Sarah DeAngelo and the G-MAC record set by Trevecca Nazarene's Haley Fagan of 616 as well, entering this weekend with 648 career punchouts.
Kapteyn was in many ways a match for Russell in the circle, giving Hillsdale the luxury of two dependable ace-level starters to turn to in doubleheaders. The senior had an epic final season, going 15-5 with three saves and recording a career-high eight shutouts, just one behind the all-time single season record of nine at Hillsdale. Kapteyn posted an impressive 1.86 ERA, the best mark of her career, and was especially hard to score on in conference games, posting a 10-2 record with a 1.08 ERA, the second best mark in the G-MAC this season. In doing so, Kapteyn broke into the top 10 all-time at Hillsdale College in virtually every pitching statistic and solidified her place as one of the best pitchers in program history.
Along with Hillsdale's pitching staff, two fearsome hitters also brought home All-G-MAC honors for the Chargers. After a breakout season that ranks among the best power hitting performances in program history, sophomore Maggie Olaveson earned first-team All-G-MAC honors in the outfield. Olaveson has been Hillsdale's best hitter from the first week of the season, batting .387 with an impressive 13 doubles and 13 home runs, and leading the team with 35 RBIs. Olaveson's 13 home runs are tied for the third-most in a single season in Hillsdale College history, and only two former All-Americans have exceeded her total so far -- Jessica Guertin in 2010, and Sam Catron in 2021. The sophomore's .754 slugging percentage ranks third among all G-MAC players this season, and would be third all-time in Hillsdale history if the season ended today.
Hillsdale's final All-Conference honoree is celebrating her second-straight honor from the conference. Senior catcher McKenna Eichholz earned repeat second team All-G-MAC honors on Wednesday, after a strong campaign that's seen the catcher bat .307 with six doubles, five home runs and 33 RBIs, second on the team only to Olaveson in getting runs home for the Chargers. Eichholz also has been among the best defensive catchers in the conference, with a perfect fielding percentage this season and a .222 runners caught stealing percentage.