Over the past five seasons under head coach Kyle Gross, 30-plus win seasons have gone from a rare accomplishment to a regular occurrence for the Hillsdale College softball team, with the Chargers crossing that mark in each of the last five seasons.

The next step for Hillsdale is to become a team that regularly makes deep NCAA Tournament runs and is a real contender for the Midwest Region title -- coming off a 2025 campaign where the Chargers reached the final day of the regional tournament for the first time in program history.

Duplicating and exceeding last year's run won't be easy, as Hillsdale bid farewell to a legendary senior class that included three critical position player starters in Hannah Hoverman, Emma Vis and Ashley Strick and the most decorated player in program history in pitcher Joni Russell.

While it'll be hard to replace that production and leadership, the Chargers have another excellent senior class in 2026 that looks poised for a huge campaign to help lead the way.  That group includes the Chargers' three top players in RBIs in 2025, and a record-setting base-stealer in centerfielder Emma Sather, who set the Chargers' single-season mark last season with 34 stolen bases on 38 attempts.

Sather bats leadoff for the Chargers, and she's backed up by her classmates, who are impressive hitters in their own rights. Right behind her in the order is first team All-Midwest Region second baseman Taylor Lewis, who led the Chargers in hits (64) and had 14 extra base hits, 34 RBIs and 21 stolen bases as well. Batting third is left fielder Maggie Olaveson, a past All-G-MAC player who led the team in batting average (.329), OPS 9.972), total extra base hits (20) and RBIs (37) and came up big for the Chargers in the postseason in 2025. Hillsdale has a fourth critical senior bat for the Chargers in third baseman Anna Chellman, who had a breakout campaign in 2025 that included a game-winning three-run home run against Findlay in the G-MAC Tournament.

Also returning for the Chargers is third-year starting shortstop Sydney Davis, a junior and critical middle of the order bat for the Chargers, and sophomore Olivia Liguori, who split time between catcher and designated player for Hillsdale as a freshman and earned All-G-MAC honors with a stellar performance at the plate. All the returning pieces give Hillsdale hope that 2026 could be a historic offensive campaign for a team that's had some strong teams at the plate in recent years.

Hillsdale will be looking to fill holes in the lineup at first base, in right field, and in the catcher rotation splitting time with Olivia Liguori. Junior Medleigh Danchak and sophomores Ronnie Craft and Lauren Liguori will battle for bigger roles after making important contributions off the bench for the Chargers in 2025, and the Chargers also have an exciting crop of newcomers who will compete for playing time, headlined by sophomore and Miami (OH) transfer Nathalie Hagle. Hillsdale has a strong freshman crop of position players who could contribute right away, including Ava Stripp, Emily Miessner, Maggie Hayward and Cayla Contreras.

In the circle, Hillsdale has the tough task of replacing Russell, who became Hillsdale's first-ever consensus first team All-American in softball and rewrote the Chargers' pitching record book. While no one player is likely to reach those heights this season, the Chargers will hope to replace her in the aggregate with a combination of solid pitchers. Senior Mackenzi Maxson turned the corner late last season with strong performances to help Hillsdale eliminate both Tiffin and Lewis in the NCAA Tournament and should be a great option for the Chargers, while sophomores Grace Harris and Anistyn Foster both showed promise in smaller roles in 2025 and should come back even stronger in 2026 with experience. Hillsdale also gets veteran arm Gracelynn Kelly back from injury to contribute in the circle, and adds two freshmen with the potential to make an impact right away for the Chargers in prospects Katie Jonas and Grantham Neely.

Hillsdale will be battle-tested in 2026 by one of the toughest schedules the Chargers have ever faced. Hillsdale will play four total contests against the two teams that met in the NCAA DII World Series Final in Texas-Tyler and Tampa in the nonconference portion of the season, as well as games against powerhouse programs Minnesota-Duluth and Saint Martin's (WA) and strong regional squads from Parkside, Maryville, Grand Valley State and NCAA Tourney foe Lewis.

In conference play, the Chargers will face serious challenges from defending regular season champion Tiffin and perennial contender Findlay, both of whom return NCAA Tournament-qualifying squads from 2025 almost intact. Hillsdale also has tough contests on tap against perennial league title contenders Ohio Dominican and Northwood, and rising programs in Ashland and Cedarville, among others.

Hillsdale opens the 2026 season on Feb. 6 in Texas, facing off against two-time defending national champion Texas-Tyler at 4:30 p.m. eastern time in the first of five games in three days in the Lone Star state. The Chargers also make trips to Chicago, St. Louis and Florida, and will open the home and G-MAC schedule on March 22 at Johnny Williams Field against Lake Erie in a doubleheader. You can find the full schedule here.