She’s smart—the Ivy League don’t take no dummies!—and a heck of a softball player too.

Gigi Ganje is a sophomore outfielder and leadoff hitter for the University of Penn Quakers and, although the team has struggled of late with a 6-9 overall record as of Sunday in non-conference action after starting off the season 3-1, Gigi is having a record-breaking season.

At the Catamount Classic this weekend hosted by Western Carolina University, Gigi went 9-for-18 for a .500 batting average, scored six runs with eight RBIs, had three steals, three doubles and, surprisingly perhaps for a leadoff hitter, she smacked four home runs.

Those dingers give her nine home runs in just 14 games and, as of the last week, Gigi was Top 5 in Div. I college ball in home runs per game.

Here’s a nice X.com post Penn posted on social media after one of those long balls:

And get this: as of Sunday’s game, the talented soph is leading the Ivy League Conference in SEVEN offensive categories:

• Runs
• Hits
• RBIs
• Doubles
• Home Runs
• Slugging Percentage
• OPS

This is Brentt Eads of Line Drive Media… I’ve covered Gigi going back to her eighth-grade year when she played for the Corona Angels and was already then a player that looked to have a great future.

Even seven years ago, the athlete said that “one day, I want to be an engineer,” emphasizing academics to make it in life.

A little over three years, Gigi announced via social media that she’d be headed to the Ivy League—all the way across the country from her home in Southern California.

She attended Aliso Niguel High and was a standout outfielder in the 2024 class playing for the BSC Bengals – Briggs team.

I had Gigi ranked at one time as a Top 15 player in her class and she’s done nothing since then in showing she’s one of the top outfielders in college softball.

Here’s a video clip from 2022 when Gigi made a tremendous catch in the outfield for Aliso Niguel High:

She could have gone to many-a-D1 program, but the allure of an Ivy League education was too good to pass up.

Gigi hit the ground running last year as a true freshman, starting every one of the Quakers 39 games and hit a team best .302 and led the team with 35 hits while being second with 16 RBIs.

And what a way to start her college softball career: her first home run—and only one in 2025—was a grand slam!

What many might not know about Gigi is she was also a heck of a flag football player prior to college.

In one interview, she said an athletic highlight of hers was when she starred in both sports… on the same day.

“I once scored a touchdown and hit a homme run on the same day,” she recalled. “I used to play flag football as a wide receiver and I was the only girl in the league.”

“I caught a touchdown pass in a football game and then played in my first softball game ever a few hours later where I hit a home run in my first career at-bat.”

Even then, the speedy outfielder was hitting home runs and that hasn’t stopped now that she’s in college.

The only question is how many the leadoff will smack this year and beyond in her already record-setting college career.

— Brentt Eads/Line Drive Media