WILLIMANTIC, Conn. -- The Eastern Connecticut State University softball and baseball teams are both favored to claim Little East Conference regular-seasons titles, according to the 2026 LEC preseason coaches' poll.
The softball team received 64 points and all eight first place votes, while the baseball team received 59 points and three first place votes.

In marks the fourth time – third time in five years – where Eastern softball and baseball have both been ranked No. 1 in the pre-season poll. Previous dual No. 1 rankings came in 2012, 2022 and 2024.
Softball returns 12 letterwinners from 2025 regular-season LEC championship team

The Warriors' softball program went 21-18 last season, boasting a 13-3 record in regular season conference action and winning the regular-season title by three games over the University of Southern Maine. Top-seeded Eastern went 1-2 in the LEC double-elimination tournament, losing twice to eventual champion and No. 4-seeded University of Massachusetts Boston.

This year, the Warriors welcome back 12 letterwinners, including LEC Rookie & Pitcher-of- the-Year and third-team All-Region pick Elizabeth Mitchell (Coventry), first-team All-LEC utility player and second-team All-Region selection Maddy Bowen (Hudson, NH), a senior tri-captain, and junior shortstop Kaley Laird (Bristol). Joining Mitchell on the LEC All-Rookie Team was third baseman Sam Healy (Cranston, RI).

Last year, right-handed Mitchell was 16-8-3 with a 2.62 ERA in 160 1/3 inning and batted .299 in 97 at-bats; Bowen led the team with a .373 batting average and did not commit an error on 61 chances in the field; Laird batted .275 with 70 assists and was 20-for-20 on stolen bases; and Healy batted .200 with 59 assists and 12 extra-base hits, including a team-high five home runs.

Transferring into the program are junior shortstop Grace Jenkins (Groton) and righty pitcher/DP Hadley Marchand (Andover) from Division II Southern New Hampshire University and Division III Endicott College, respectively. These two are accompanied by three All-State first-year players in first-baseman Jenna Maus (Woodbridge), righty pitcher Leah Chatfield (Naugatuck), and catcher Kayla Jette (Avon).

UMass Boston ranked second in the poll, receiving 50 points and one first-place vote, eight more than third-place Plymouth State University, which finished third in last year's final standings. The Panthers lead a very tight pack with 42 points, just one ahead of UMass Dartmouth and Southern Maine, both of whom received 41 points to round out the Top 5.

The Warriors are scheduled to open their season March 11 at 3 p.m. with a non-conference doubleheader at Massachusetts Maritime Academy and are scheduled to open their 16-game LEC regular-season schedule March 28 with a doubleheader against Southern Maine at Clyde Washburne Field.

Baseball program will look to many newcomers in 2026

The baseball program went 30-13 last season, with a 12-4 regular season conference record that landed them in a tie for second place in the final standings and as the No. 3 tournament seed.
The top four teams in the poll received at least one first-place vote.

The Warriors lost to top-seeded Keene State College in last year's LEC tournament championship round, but held the Owls off by five points in this year's preseason poll despite graduating eight of last year's ten All-LEC performers and six of the nine position players who started last year's LEC title game.

Like Eastern, the Owls also received three first place votes in the poll, while third-ranked University of Southern Maine (49 pts.) received two, and the University of Massachusetts Boston (47) received one.
Eastern returns two-time first-team all-conference and second-team All-Region senior catcher and team captain Hank Penders (Wethersfield), the only D3baseball.com pre-season  All-America from the conference;  as well as first-team All-LEC junior designated hitter Ian Moser (Bellingham, MA).

Among the additional key returnees are graduate lefty pitcher Nicholas Furino (East Haven), sophomore righty pitcher Stephen Rickert (Williston, VT), senior first baseman J.T. Clark (Bristol) and junior infielder Teige Kimbler (Albany, NY).

Penders batted .352 last year with 92 total bases and 37 RBI; Furino was 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in 15 innings; Rickert had a staff-leading 1.86 ERA in 13 appearances over 19 1/3 innings without a decision or save; Clark batted .272 with 62 total bases.

A large number of newcomers – many of them with previous college experience -- are expected to play major roles this year, among them outfielders Danny DiNorcia (Naples, FL) and Chad Byrd (Bridgeport), infielder Matthew Carrera (Mount Sinai, NY), utility player Devin Kulas (Southington), right-handed pitchers Rob Moynihan (Ledyard), Brian Goglia (Milford), E.J. Nevills (Westwood, MA) and Sebastian Dostal (Londonderry, VT) and lefty pitcher Tommy Martorano (Wrentham, MA).

A senior, DiNorcia has played a season at Division III University of Mount Saint Vincent and two at Division I Georgia Southwestern State University; Byrd spent last spring as a redshirt freshman at Division I Mount Saint Mary's University; a junior, Carrera played previously at Division I Sacred Heart University and Hudson Valley Community College; Kulas is a junior who spent the last two years at Division II Franklin Pierce University; Moynihan is a senior who played one season at Division I Siena University and two at Division II Stonehill College; Goglia spent a redshirt freshman season at Division I Virginia Commonwealth University last year; Nevills spent two seasons at Division III Amherst College; Dostal is a first-year member of the staff and Martorano is a sophomore who has spent the last two years at Division I University of Maine.

 Eastern is scheduled to play four games in Emmitsburg, MD the weekend of Feb. 27 before returning to New England for a pair of road games. The Warriors are scheduled to play six games in five days in central Florida March 15-19, then opens its home and Little East Conference season with a 1 p.m. doubleheader against VTSU Castleton March 22 at Holowaty Family Field.