On April 25, Jensin Hall ’27 became the first ever Dartmouth softball player to land a spot on the TUCCI/NFCA Division I Freshman of the Year Top 25 list.
Hall said she was not expecting to make the top 25 and only found out about her accomplishment when Dartmouth softball congratulated her on its Instagram account. In fact, she said making the list was “not even on [her] radar” at the beginning of the season.
“I didn’t even think that this was a possibility,” Hall said. “… It was just really cool to even be considered for it. I’m just really proud of myself and the work that I’ve put in this off-season and leading up to Ivies. I feel really good about the preparation that I had, and I’m really glad that I have my team behind me to support me.”
Head coach Jen Williams said it’s an “honor” and “absolutely huge deal” that Hall made the top 25 list.
“Making the top 25 finalist list is such a big deal because it means that you’re among the most impactful freshman players in the entire country,” Williams said. “[Hall] is a great team player, and she loves being on the mound. It’s great to see her be able to take that on and have so much success early on for us.”
Hall leads NCAA softball in strikeouts per seven innings with 11.2 K/7 and the Ivy League in strikeouts with 140 K. In her high school career, Hall recorded more than 700 strikeouts.
When asked what pitch results in the most strikeouts, Hall explained that it is never one-pitch-fits-all.
“It’s never really the same pitch,” she said. “Every season, it’s a different pitch. Right now, it’s my curveball, and in high school, it was more of my rise ball. It really just depends on what my body’s feeling each season.”
As a result of her strike-out success, Hall has been awarded Ivy League Pitcher of the Week every single week she has been actively pitching this spring — four back-to-back weeks, according to Williams.
“I think one of the biggest things that makes a pitcher really competitive and able to achieve at a high level is both their confidence in what they can throw but also their desire to be the one with the ball in their hand on the mound — and that’s something that Jensin just came into the program having,” Williams said.
With a two-woman pitching staff, Hall plays alongside Rachel McCarroll ’25. McCarroll stepped in when Hall was injured in the middle of the season, starting and completing all three games in the series against Princeton University on April 13-14, according to Williams.
“I was hurt for two weeks, so Rachel had to take my load, and she did that amazingly,” Hall said. “It’s stressful [to remain healthy], but I have complete faith in Rachel that when something happens, she can totally take the reins and control it like she did earlier this season.”
McCarroll said she is proud of Hall, adding that she and Hall “thrive off each other’s energy and work ethic in the circle.”
“[Hall’s] been doing a phenomenal job, and she has been an awesome pitcher to have in the bullpen,” McCarroll said. “It’s been so great for both of us to have each other, whereas last year, we didn’t have that depth in the bullpen.”
With 175.1 innings under her belt, McCarroll led the Ivy League last season in innings pitched, according to the 2023 Ivy League statistics. Hall said she looks up to McCarroll and her stamina.
“[McCarroll is] just always the person I go to for advice when things are getting hard or whenever I’m frustrated at myself,” Hall said. “She always has the perfect thing to say and she just puts the team on her back when she needs to.”
Hall added that she also gets support from the team’s offensive lineup.
“Coming from the weekend with our two walk-offs [against Cornell University], it makes me feel so much more comfortable going into each inning, knowing that my team has my back and no matter what happens, or what I do, they’re going to come back and back me up,” Hall said.
Outfielder Lauren Ben-Ezra ’26 said the team is just as grateful for Hall.
“Obviously, [Hall’s] been very important to our success as a team,” Ben-Ezra said. “She’s played an important role both on the mound and as a teammate.”
The list of 25 nominees will be reduced to a Top 10 list on May 9 when the NFCA Division I All-America Committee votes, according to the NFCA website. Hall said she is grateful to be named in the top 25 regardless of the outcome of the vote.
“I am just really honored to be in the top 25,” Hall said. “I think there’s a lot of other really good people on that list, so I have no idea where I’ll end up, but I’m just glad I’m on it.”
After sweeping Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania on April 20-21 and April 27-28, respectively, the Big Green are fighting the Columbia University Lions May 4-5 to get the fourth and final spot in the Ivy League tournament, which occurs on May 10-12. In order to compete in the tournament, the Big Green will need to win at least one game against Columbia and Brown to lose its series. Hall said she is ready to take on the challenge.
On a six-game win streak, Hall said she and the team “are preparing to not take anybody lightly, no matter where they are in the standings.”
“We need to go out and do our business,” she said.
