Harvard’s softball team is set to compete in the Upstate Classic and Sparkle City Invite in Spartanburg, South Carolina from February 20 to 22. The team returns to the east coast after opening its 2026 season in Phoenix, Arizona.
The Crimson will play Holy Cross at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, followed by a game against USC Upstate at 3:00 p.m. Saturday’s schedule includes another matchup with Holy Cross at 11:00 a.m., then Wofford at 4:00 p.m. Harvard concludes the weekend against Morgan State on Sunday at 10:00 a.m.
Harvard enters the tournaments with a 1-3 record. Their first win of the season came in a close 5-4 walk-off victory over Northern Colorado, secured by senior infielder Finley Payne’s two-run RBI single in the seventh inning. In a narrow loss to Grand Canyon University, junior Alexa Wohr hit Harvard’s first home run of the year, while senior pitcher Riley Flynn allowed just two runs on three hits with two strikeouts.
Junior outfielder and captain Audrey Szollosi led Harvard offensively during their time in Phoenix, recording a .462 batting average with six hits and two runs scored. Senior pitcher Ryan Grace appeared in all four games of the GCU Invite and posted team-leading numbers in earned run average (0.78), strikeouts (10), and opposing batting average (.206). Grace received Ivy League Pitcher of the Week honors for only the second time in her career.
Team captains this season are Grace, Szollosi, and junior infielder Megan Davies.
Head coach Jenny Rohn is now in her third season leading Harvard’s program, holding a record of 54-33 at Harvard and an overall career record of 89-80.
Among their opponents this weekend:
– Holy Cross begins its season after finishing last year with an 8-37 record.
– USC Upstate comes into the tournament with seven wins out of eight games this year and is riding a six-game winning streak.
– Wofford also holds an eight-win start to its campaign and has won its last six games.
– Morgan State opens its season after going 19-29 last year.
Historically, Harvard leads Holy Cross in their series history (43-8). The Crimson have not previously faced USC Upstate, Wofford, or Morgan State.
Sophomore Sun remains one of Harvard’s standout hitters. She opened this season with a .417 batting average and five RBIs over opening weekend. Last year she was recognized as both Ivy League Player and Rookie of the Year—the first student-athlete to achieve both awards simultaneously—and was ranked among D1Softball’s Top 100 Mid-Major players.
Harvard has produced three consecutive Ivy League Rookie of the Year award winners: Alexa Muller (2025), Sun (2024), and Riley Flynn (2023).
Over five full seasons from 2018 to 2024, Harvard leads Ivy League softball programs with a conference record of 90-36. The team won regular-season titles back-to-back in 2023 and 2024 as well as claiming victory at the inaugural Ivy League Tournament in Princeton during the spring of 2023.
This year’s roster features players from eleven different states across the country including Arizona, New Jersey, Hawaii, Washington, California, Missouri, Ohio, Virginia, Texas, Georgia, and North Carolina.
Following these tournaments in South Carolina, Harvard will continue its road slate next week at Florida International University’s FIU Classic from February 27 to March 1.
