The Spartans, now 33-12, earned an automatic bid into the 64-team national championship tournament by virtue of winning the East Coast Conference tournament on Sunday. They won all three games in the tourney, culminating in a 10-3 win over defending champion D’Youville University at Spartan Field.

 

In the East Regional, STAC will face No. 6 seeded Southern New Hampshire University, which is 33-21. The game is scheduled for Thursday at 2:30 pm at Adelphi University in Garden City, N.Y.  Adelphi (35-21) and the University of Bridgeport (31-18) are the other two teams in this week’s double-elimination bracket. The winner advances to the Super Regional on May 21-22 - one step away from the D2 World Series. 

 

This marks STAC’s fourth straight post-season NCAA appearance, adding another chapter to one of the most successful seasons in the program's 47-year history and Head Coach Kristen Sullivan's tenure. The Spartans’ 18 regular-season ECC wins were the most ever for the program and they’ve now won or shared the ECC regular-season title in five straight seasons. 

 

STAC marches into the regional with a superb pitching staff, a powerful offense and very reliable defense. Sophomore Lauren Falk (Highlands Ranch, CO) named the Most Outstanding Player in the ECC tournament and leads the staff. She tossed a no-hitter against Mercy in the ECC tourney. Freshman Emma Popp (Buffalo, NY), who finished 16-1, was named the ECC co-Rookie of the Year and is expected to be a factor in the NCAAs. 

 

The offense is led by Sofia Marella (Cranston, RI), Elyse Marcano (Middletown, NY), Adrianna Coira (San Juan, Puerto Rico), Olivia Leon (Stony Point, N.Y.) and Trin Santiago (Cheshire, CT). All five players have batting averages higher than .300 and on-base percentages higher than .400. Marella set single-season records this season with 16 Homers and 56 RBI. Marcano is the only player in program history to amass 200 career hits. Leon at catcher, Alyssa Haberstroh (Thornton, CO) at first base and Jordyn Gautier (Fords, NJ) have sparkled with their gloves lately. Nayah Diaz (Bayonne, NJ) and Yazmine Garcia (Corona, CA) have also made important contributions.

 

In Thursday's opener, STAC will likely face SNHU's Julianne Colbert, who was named the Northeast-10's Pitcher of the Year. She registered 231 strikeouts in 188 innings this season while compiling an earned run average of 1.97. 

 

2026 NCAA Division II Softball Championship -- East 2 Regional (May 14-16)
at Janet L. Ficke Field - Garden City, N.Y.

Thursday, May 14
Game 1: #7 Bridgeport vs. #2 Adelphi - 12 p.m.
Game 2: #6 So. New Hampshire vs. #3 St. Thomas Aquinas - 2:30 p.m.

Friday, May 15
Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner - 10 a.m.
Game 4: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser - 12:30 p.m.
Game 5: Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser - 3 p.m.

Saturday, May 16
Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner - 12 a.m.
Game 7 (if necessary): Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner - 2:30 p.m.