Softball Opens Season at Spiro Classic

Friday, February 13

Greensboro, N.C.

10 AM

Columbia

App State

2/11/2026 11:34:00 AM | Softball

Spiro Classic Tournament Central

Lions picked to finish third in the Preseason Ivy League Poll

NEW YORK – The Columbia softball team begins its 2025 campaign this weekend when the Lions travel to Greensboro, N.C., to participate in the Spiro Classic hosted by UNC Greensboro.

The Lions will play five games over three days, including doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday. Columbia takes on App State on Friday at 10 a.m. before taking on tournament host UNC Greensboro at 3 p.m. On Saturday, the Tournament resumes with Columbia facing App State at 10 a.m., followed by Fairfield. The Lions wrap up the weekend, playing Faifield on Sunday at 11 a.m.

LIVE COVERAGE
Live streaming will not be available for games this weekend. UNC Greensboro will provide live stats, accessible on the softball schedule page by clicking the link for each game. Or by visiting the Spiro Classic Tournament Central page.

THE OPPONENTS
Columbia will face three opponents that advanced to their conference tournament last season. App State enters this weekend 4-0 after winning the UNCW Tournament last weekend. Last year, the Mountaineers went 23-27, with their season culminating in the first round of the Sun Belt Tournament. UNCG enters this weekend, 1-4, at the Bash at the Boro tournament hosted by Georgia Southern. In 2025, the Spartans went 39-19 and advanced to the SoCon Tournament. Fairfield enters this weekend with a 2-2 record after finishing with a pair of lopsided wins over Houston Christian at the University of Houston Tournament. The Stags went 26-26 last season.

BACK IN THE BLUE AND WHITE
The Lions bring back a loaded roster for 2026. Columbia returns 14 letter winners, including six starters and four pitchers, from last year's squad that finished with the best winning percentage in program history. Highlighting the list of returners include all-Ivy honorees Sarah Mikami, Payton Shimansky, Juju O'Brien and Eleni Katsivalis. At the dish, the Lions bring back 62 percent of their home run production and 61 percent of their RBI production from last year's potent lineup. In the circle, the Lions will lean on sophomore Emmy Davis, who looks to build on her stellar first-year campaign. Also back for the Lions are Lily McCord, Charlotte Laidler, and Caylene Nguyen, who all finished with two saves apiece.

NEW FACES
Columbia added four newcomers to the roster this offseason. Mads Lawson, Alexia Ruiz, Brianna Santangelo, and Onna Swanigan joined the roster and are expected to make big contributions right away.

"This is such an exciting time for our program," head coach Jennifer Teague said. "Being able to add this level of talent to an already stacked team is truly thrilling. We've added depth across the board — pitching, outfield, and infield — and I believe we're setting ourselves up for another serious run at a championship."

For more information on the newcomers, click HERE.

PRESEASON POLL
The Ivy League announced its annual preseason media poll on Wednesday morning. The Lions were picked to finish third. Princeton was picked to finish first, receiving 14 of a possible 16 first-place votes, followed by Harvard. Brown was picked to finish fourth.

2026 Ivy League Preseason Softball Poll (First Place Votes)
1. Princeton — 126 (14)
2. Harvard — 110 (2)
3. Columbia — 85
4. Brown — 76
5. Dartmouth — 71
6. Yale — 48
7. Cornell — 44
8. Penn — 16

FOLLOWING THE LIONS
Stay up to date on all things Columbia Softball by following the Lions on X (@CULionsSoftball), Instagram (@culionssoftball) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaSoftball).