HILLSBORO, Ore.—After putting together the best season in program history, Lewis & Clark College tied the program record with eight players named to the Northwest Conference All-Conference Teams, the league office announced on Thursday afternoon. 
 
The Pioneers tied the 2007 team with their eighth selections and made program history by having three players named to the NWC First Team and seven honorees across the NWC First and Second Teams. Softball had never had multiple First Team selections in the same year in program history and previous to this season only five players had been named to the NWC First Team since the conference went to a First Team/Second Team format in 2005. 
 
Lewis & Clark finished the season with a program-record 28 wins and earned their highest-ever finish in the NWC standings (second place) after going 20-8 in conference play. The Pioneers added their first-ever NWC Tournament win and advanced to the NWC Championship Series for the first time in program history. 
 
Senior Sam Gildersleeve, sophomore Maggie O'Leary and freshman Harper Campanella all were voted to the NWC First Team. Senior Mari Alvarez and sophomores Charlize Pope, McKenna Zehnder and Gina Ozuna each carved out spots on the NWC Second Team. Sophomore shortstop Emily Patton was tabbed to the NWC Honorable Mention Team. 
 
Gildersleeve (third career) and Alvarez (fourth career) were each repeat All-Conference honorees. The team's six underclassmen award winners each were named to the NWC All-Conference Team for the first time in program history. 
 
Gildersleeve earned her third career All-Conference award and second as a right fielder. She was named to the NWC First Team as a freshman and to the Honorable Mention Team her sophomore season. She is the first player in program history to be named to the NWC All-Conference First Team on multiple occasions. 
 
The senior led Lewis & Clark with 10 home runs, 42 runs batted in, 14 stolen bases, .696 slugging percentage and .435 on-base percentage. She finished second on the team with 37 runs scored and 15 walks and in the top-five on the team with her .339 batting average (t-2^nd), seven doubles (third) and 42 hits (fourth). Gildersleeve became the first player in program history to post double-digit home runs in multiple seasons (15 as a freshman) and set the program record for career home runs (36) with her first homer of the season. She finished in the top-five for a single-season in runs scored (second), RBI (third), and stolen bases (t-4^th) and added 80 total bases (t-7^th). The senior posted 10 multi-hit games and 12 contests with multi-RBI. Gildersleeve had one of her best days of the season on April 13 when she posted walk-off hits in both ends of a doubleheader sweep of Pacific Lutheran University. 
 
O'Leary garnered her first career All-Conference honors after teaming up with Pope to lead the number two pitching staff in the NWC. The Pioneers sophomore is the first Lewis & Clark pitcher to earn First Team honors and first L&C pitcher to earn All-Conference accolades since Monique Radman in 1998. 
 
O'Leary led the Lewis & Clark pitching staff with 14 wins (14-7), 29 appearances, 112 strikeouts and three saves. She also tied for the team lead with 19 start and posted a 2.63 earned run average in 122.1 innings pitched and a .232 opponent's batting average. The sophomore tied for the program record for saves in a single-season with three. She also recorded the second-most strikeouts in a single-season and tied for the second-most wins in a season. Her 2.63 ERA is seventh-best in school history. O'Leary was a part of four of the team's six shutouts and struck out five or more batters 14 times. She struck out a season-high 11 batters on March 2 at Schreiner University and threw a complete-game shutout (five-hitter) on April 7 at Whitworth.
 
Campanella is the first freshman to earn First Team All-Conference since Gildersleeve accomplished the feat in 2021. She is just the second Pioneers freshman to earn First or Second All-Conference accolades this century. The designated player/third baseman led the Pioneers with her .354 batting average and 81 total bases. She finished second on the team with 46 hits, 11 doubles, eight home runs, 38 RBI and .623 slugging percentage. Campanella added 25 runs scored, 12 walks and three stolen bases while playing in 43 games (41 starts). The freshman posted 11 multiple-hit games and 11 multiple-RBI games. Her 81 total bases puts her in a tie for fifth in program history for a single-season, while she also ranks fourth in RBI and tied for fifth in doubles. Campanella recorded two doubles and three total hits and added a run scored and three RBI in a win over Pacific on March 23. 
 
Pope was the top pitcher on the NWC Second Team after putting up a career-season and an extremely strong second-half. The sophomore led the Pioneers pitching staff in ERA (2.33), innings pitched (123.1), complete games (seven) and opponent's batting average (.212). Pope tied for the team lead with 19 starts in 26 appearances. She added 12 wins (12-7), one save and 92 strikeouts. Pope ranks fifth in program history for ERA in a single-season, tied for fifth in wins and fifth in strikeouts. The sophomore posted five strikeouts or more eight times and was a part of three Pioneers shutouts. She notched a season-high eight strikeouts against Puget Sound on April 28 and threw a complete-game shutout (three-hitter) against Willamette on March 9. 
 
Zehnder earned her first career All-Conference accolades after serving as the team's starting catcher in her sophomore campaign. She once again proved to be one of the Pioneers top defenders after posting a .971 fielding percentage while playing catcher and third base. Zehnder ranked second on the team in putouts (155) and assists (47). She also threw out nine runners trying to steal bases in 35 chances (25.7%). Offensively, Zehnder enjoyed a breakout season. She finished the season hitting .264 with 14 runs scored and 16 RBI. The catcher added 23 hits, six doubles and two home runs and led the team with six sacrifice bunts. Zehnder recorded multiple RBI five times and multiple hits on four occasions. She came through with one of her biggest hits of the season with a two-run double against Pacific Lutheran University in the first game of the NWC Tournament. 
 
Ozuna was another first-time All-Conference pick after providing a huge jolt to the Pioneers lineup in her first season as a starter. The Pioneers second baseman started all 44 games and set the single-season record for doubles (13), runs scored (38) and at-bats (146). She also led the team with 49 hits and 17 walks. Ozuna ranked in the top-five on the team with her .336 batting average (fifth), 31 RBI (fourth), 75 total bases (third), .514 slugging percentage (third), and .419 on-base percentage (tied for third). She hit safely in 11 contests and added multiple RBI 10 times. The second baseman ended the season tied for fourth in hits for a single-season and ninth in total bases. Ozuna posted a career-high five hits in six at-bats and added three runs, four RBI and two doubles in a win over Puget Sound on April 28. 
 
Alvarez becomes the first four-time All-Conference player in program history. The senior first baseman was named to the Honorable Mention Team as a freshman and sophomore, the First Team as a junior and now earns her first career Second Team accolades. She split her time between first base and catcher this spring and ranked amongst the team leaders in every major category including pacing the team with eight hit by pitches and five sacrifice flies. Alvarez ended the season tied for second in batting average (.339), second in on-base percentage (.424), fourth in slugging percentage (.508), fourth in hits (42), third in RBI (34) and third in home runs (five). She posted 11 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI contests. The senior registered a season-high four RBI against Whitworth on April 6 and a double and a home run, two runs and three RBI against Pacific Lutheran on April 14. 
 
Patton was named to the NWC Honorable Mention Team after moving over to play shortstop in her sophomore campaign. After serving as the team's starting second baseman as a freshman, Patton moved across the diamond and started all but one game and led the team with 59 assists. She committed just six errors to post a .950 fielding percentage. Offensively, Patton ranked among the team leaders with her 43 hits (third on the team), nine steals (third), 26 runs (fourth), six doubles (tied for fourth) and 22 RBI (sixth). She ended the year hitting .326, with a .345 on-base percentage and .386 slugging percentage. The shortstop tacked on one triple and five sacrifice bunts (second). She notched 11 multi-hit games and five multi-RBI contests. Patton recorded one of the best games of her career on April 28, when she went 3-4 with four runs scored, one RBI, a double and a walk. 
 
Lewis & Clark expects to return all eight All-Conference players for the 2025 season and 22 of the team's 24 student-athletes.