Syracuse, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College softball team's 2026 season schedule was announced on Thursday morning, and will kick off at the Blue Hose Invitational hosted by Presbyterian College in Clinton, S.C. on Friday, Feb. 6.

Le Moyne will take part in four non-conference tournaments to open action for the 2026 season. They'll match up with 25 institutions through their 56 game regular season that will last from Feb. 6 through May 3 before the 2026 NEC Tournament takes place from May 7-9. 

The Dolphins will participate in the Blue Hose Invitational through Opening Weekend, Feb. 6-8, playing in a five-game set. They'll take on the University of Dayton, who earned a 30-18 record before advancing to the A-10 Tournament in 2025, twice on Friday and Saturday while playing host Presbyterian College on Friday afternoon and Morehead State University on Saturday, as well. The Blue Hose played to a 21-29 overall record last season while the Morehead State Eagles were 8-41 overall and 6-20 in Ohio Valley Conference action a season ago. The 'Phins will close out the invite with a Sunday morning matchup with Western Michigan University who went 16-36 overall in 2025.

Le Moyne then travel to Rock Hill, S.C. to play in the Winthrop Garnet & Gold Tournament for the third consecutive season from Feb. 13-15. They'll open the tournament on Friday against Robert Morris University who finished 2025 with a 30-18 record and claimed their first Horizon League Championship before advancing to the NCAA Regional. They'll then take on host Winthrop University, who topped the 'Phins, 3-1, in their meeting last season, finished 30-23 on the year, and fell to USC Upstate in the Big South Championship Game. The Dolphins will match up against Kent State University (16-36 in 2025) the following morning before closing out the tournament with a pair of games to be determined based on seeding.

The Dolphins then head to the Blue Hen Invitational in Newark, De. the following weekend, Feb. 27-Mar. 1. They'll first play Bryant University and host Delaware on Friday, who both qualified for and fell short in their conference tournaments to close the year. The following morning, Le Moyne will face off against Quinnipiac University who earned a 19-27 overall record in 2025 and fell to Marist in the first round of the MAAC Tournament. They'll wrap up the weekend with their second matchups against the Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon and Blue Hens on Sunday.

The Dolphins finish out invitational play in Farmville, Va. from Mar. 6-8 in a tournament hosted by Longwood University. They'll open the tournament with a pair of games against LaFayette College and Longwood on Friday before taking on Youngstown State University and LaFayette on Saturday and wrapping up on Sunday against Longwood, once again. Lafayette went 7-31 last season while Longwood played to a 21-32 mark and earned a spot in the Big South Tournament. Youngstown State earned a 14-39 record in 2025 and fell to the Dolphins at Winthrop last year, 13-8. 

The Dolphins open NEC action with back-to-back road trips for the third season in a row. They start at LIU on March 14-15 before visiting conference-newcomer New Haven University the following weekend. LIU went 26-23 a year ago, including a 16-5 mark in the NEC to win the regular season title and earn the top seed in the conference championship. New Haven was 11-33, including 4-16 in NE10 action, in their final NCAA Division-II season and failed to make the conference tournament. 

From there, the 'Phins will travel to UAlbany for a non-conference doubleheader on Mar. 25 before hosting their home-opening series against Saint Francis University three days later. The Great Danes went 20-26 overall and advanced to the America East Tournament after going 9-8 in conference play while the Red Flash played to a 26-26 overall record with a 14-7 NEC record. Saint Francis earned the second spot in the conference tournament, went 3-0 to win the NEC Championship, and advanced to the NCAA Regional where they fell to #1 Texas A&M and Marist. 

Le Moyne will open April on the road in a doubleheader at Cornell University on Wednesday the 1st before back-to-back home NEC series against FDU and Wagner. The Big Red played to a 16-22 mark last season and came short of appearing in the Ivy League Tournament with a 6-15 conference record. FDU went 24-26 overall with a 13-8 NEC record in 2025, dropping two of three to the Dolphins, earning them the third seed in the postseason tournament. Wagner was 15-26 while going 10-11 in conference play a year ago.

The Dolphins following five games come on the road from Apr. 15-19 with a non-conference doubleheader at the University at Buffalo on Wednesday and a three-game NEC slate at Stonehill College on Saturday and Sunday. Buffalo played to a 17-33 record overall in the Mid-American Conference last season while Stonehill went 16-34 overall and 5-13 in NEC action. The Skyhawks' 2025 series with the Dolphins was canceled due to inclement weather. 

The next week, they host St. Bonaventure in a mid-week doubleheader on Wednesday, Apr. 22 before traveling to Mercyhurst University in their final road series of the season that weekend. The Bonnies went 11-35 overall with a 5-20 A-10 Conference record in 2025 while Mercyhurst played to a 5-33 mark and were 3-18 in NEC play. The Dolphins took two of three games against the Lakers at home last season. 

The team's final seven games are at home, including a pair of non-conference doubleheaders before an NEC series. They begin the slate with a doubleheader against Siena University on Wednesday the 28th before hosting Colgate University the following day. The Saints set a program record by going 36-21-1 a year ago and fell just short in the MAAC Championship game against Marist. The Red Raiders, meanwhile, went 18-33 overall and missed out on the Patriot League Tournament after going 6-12 in conference play. 

The team closes out the regular season on Saturday and Sunday, May 2-3 as they host Central Connecticut State University. The Blue Devils were 20-30 in 2025 with a 13-8 mark in NEC action. CCSU advanced to the NEC Tournament as the fourth seed and were eliminated by top-seeded LIU to close out their season. 

The four-team conference championship will be held May 7-9 with the top seed acting as host. As transitioning institutions, should Le Moyne or Mercyhurst win the NEC Tournament championship, the tournament runner-up will advance to the NCAA Tournament as the NEC's automatic qualifier, as per current policy. If Le Moyne and Mercyhurst both reach the championship game, the NEC will stage an "AQ Qualifier" game between the two non-advancing semifinal teams. This will serve as a decisive game to determine the team that will secure the NEC's spot in the NCAA Tournament. During its NCAA reclassification, New Haven will become eligible to compete in the NEC postseason in 2026-27 or 2027-28.

The Dolphins return 15 letterwinners from last year's team that went 16-28 overall and 7-11 through their NEC schedule, including three pitchers and 12 position players.