Harvard softball is set to begin its 45th season at the GCU Invite in Phoenix, Arizona, on February 14 and 15. The Crimson will open against Sacramento State and Northern Colorado on Saturday, followed by games against tournament host Grand Canyon and a rematch with Northern Colorado on Sunday. The matchup with Grand Canyon will be broadcast live on themw.com/watch.
The team enters the 2026 season aiming for its 11th Ivy League regular season title after finishing last year with a 26-13 overall record and a 15-6 mark in conference play. Head coach Jenny Rohn, now in her third year leading Harvard, is joined by assistant coaches Xiao Gin, Claire Rolland, and Amelia Varela. Rohn has compiled a 53-30 record at Harvard and an overall coaching record of 88-77.
According to the Ivy League’s preseason poll for 2026, Harvard is ranked second. Last season, the Crimson led the conference in opposing batting average (.239), hits allowed (244), runs allowed (144), and finished second in both batting average (.309) and earned run average (2.98). Nearly all of Harvard’s pitching staff returns this year, accounting for 98 percent of innings pitched and all strikeouts from last season.
Offensively, junior infielder Sophie Sun, senior infielder Finley Payne, sophomore utility Alexa Muller, and junior outfielder/captain Audrey Szollosi are among key returners who each hit .300 or better last year. The team brings back about 70 percent of its hits from the previous season. This year’s captains are senior pitcher Riley Flynn, junior infielder Megan Davies, and Szollosi.
After competing in Phoenix, Harvard will participate in two additional nonconference tournaments: the Upstate Classic/Sparkle City Invite in South Carolina from February 20 to February 22—facing Holy Cross, USC Upstate, Wofford, and Morgan State—and then travel to Florida for the FIU Classic to play South Dakota, FIU, and Fordham. Before starting Ivy League competition at Yale on March 21–22, they will also face Army, St. John’s, and Sacred Heart between March 14–18.
Sacramento State comes into the GCU Invite with a strong start at 4-1 this season after wins over UC Davis, Saint Mary’s College of California (https://www.stmarys-ca.edu/), and Cal Poly (https://calpoly.edu/). Last year they went 27-23 before exiting the Big Sky Tournament with an eight-to-five loss to Northern Colorado. Northern Colorado started their current campaign at two wins out of five games during the Southern California Tournament but ended their previous season at nineteen wins out of fifty games after reaching the Big Sky Tournament semifinals. Grand Canyon University was an NCAA Tournament qualifier last year with a forty-seven win season; they remain undefeated so far this spring.
This weekend marks only the second meeting between Harvard and Sacramento State—the Hornets won their first contest in Riverside during the 2024 season—and just the second since 2004 against Northern Colorado; Sunday’s game will be Harvard’s first-ever softball match versus Grand Canyon.
Sophie Sun continues as one of Harvard’s standout hitters entering her third collegiate campaign. She was “the first student-athlete in conference history to win Ivy League Player and Rookie of the Year in the same season,” according to program officials. In her rookie year she was recognized as a Top Ten Finalist for national freshman honors by Tucci/NFCA.
Harvard has produced three consecutive Ivy League Rookie of the Year winners: Flynn (2023), Sun (2024), and Muller (2025). Last year Muller led all league freshmen in batting average (.368) while ranking highly across other offensive categories during conference play.
Pitching remains another strength for Harvard; nearly all innings pitched return from last year’s squad including junior Nicolette Hunter—an All-Ivy Second Team selection who posted a career-best ERA—and captain Riley Flynn who earned honorable mention status with improved numbers over twenty-two appearances.
Over five full seasons since 2018–19 academic year began—excluding pandemic interruptions—Harvard holds a league-best ninety wins against thirty-six losses within Ivy competition without recording double-digit losses any single year during that span; they secured consecutive regular-season titles most recently in both twenty-twenty-three as well as twenty-twenty-four.
The roster draws players from eleven different states nationwide including Arizona; New Jersey; Hawaii; Washington; California; Missouri; Ohio; Virginia; Texas; Georgia; North Carolina.
