SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. –  The Shippensburg University softball team earned the Atlantic Region's No. 1 seed in the 2026 NCAA Division II Softball Championships on Monday and will host the Atlantic 1 Regional pod that includes No. 4 seed Glenville State, No. 5 seed Charleston and No. 8 seed Claflin.
 
Shippensburg will face the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Champions, No. 8 seed Claflin, in the opening round of the regional tournament at 12 p.m. Thursday.
 
This is the second meeting between the two teams in program history. The teams met for the first time in 2022 – the last year Shippensburg hosted a regional – and Claflin eliminated the Raiders from that tournament with a 5-2 victory.
 
Shippensburg has now qualified for the NCAA Tournament each of the last five seasons under head coach Alison Van Scyoc. The Raiders are 35-39 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including 11-8 under Van Scyoc.
 
SU has won three NCAA Division II Regional Championships: 2003, 2004 and 2025. This is the 21st NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional appearance for the Raiders and the 22nd postseason appearance overall (SU competed in the AIAW Division III in 1982). The Raiders' best finish is third in the NCAA Division II Championship in 2004.
 
Shippensburg has a 1-1 record this season against the teams in the Atlantic 1 Regional pod. The Raiders faced Charleston and Glenville State during the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC)/Mountain East Conference (MEC) Crossover tournament on March 14-15. SU dropped it game against Charleston on Day 1, 6-1, before defeating Glenville State on Day 2, 6-2.
 
The Road to Regionals
 
Shippensburg:
 
Shippensburg earned an automatic berth and the No. 1 seed after winning the PSAC Championship. The Raiders defeated the Atlantic Region No. 2 seed, East Stroudsburg, 8-5, to win the title.
 
SU returns to the NCAA Tournament after winning the 2025 Atlantic Region Championship, defeating Kutztown in the Super Regional to punch its ticket to the World Series.
The Raider offense is ranked nationally in the Top 15 in seven different categories: third in doubles (110), sixth in doubles per game (2.04), eighth in total hits (539), 11th in batting average (.344), 12th in slugging percentage (.532), 15th in RBIs (332) and 15th in total runs (357).
 
Raider ace Dani Hayward is second in the nation in complete games with 29 and sixth in innings pitched (209.0). Hayward's 27 wins are fourth nationally. Hayward's 27 wins and 29 complete games are tied with Andrea Smith for the second-most in a single season in school history.
 
Leah Schwalm (17), Lindsey Haser (17), Rilee Ehrlacher (16), Reagan Bauman (16) and Caitlyn Martell (15) combine for 81 of the teams 110 doubles. The single-season record for doubles in a season currently sits at 22.
 
Martell, SU's all-time career hits leader and fourth all-time in PSAC history (307), leads the offense with a .399 batting average and has totaled 79 hits on the season.
 
Schwalm, the 2026 PSAC Eastern Division Freshman of the Year, was named the Most Outstanding Athlete of the 2026 PSAC Tournament after hitting 9-for-16 (.563) in four wins with four doubles, a triple, a homer, 10 RBIs and a .610 on-base percentage.
 
Claflin:
 
The Lady Panthers claimed the 2026 CIAA Championship with a walk-off win over Winston-Salem State.
 
Claflin will make its third NCAA Tournament appearance since 2021. The last tournament appearance for the Lady Panthers was in 2022 when they went 2-2 at Robb Field – eliminating Bloomsburg and Shippensburg from that tournament.
 
Claflin is ranked second in the nation in triples, totaling 38 on the season, and ranked first in triples per game (0.93).
 
Charleston:
 
Charleston earned an at-large bid after ending the season with a 45-16 record.
 
The Golden Eagles finished as the MEC runner-up after falling twice on the final day of its conference tournament to Glenville State by scores of 4-3 and 10-4. Glenville and Charleston shared the MEC South Division regular season title.
 
Charleston is making its fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. The team earned a trip to the World Series in 2024 after winning the Atlantic Region.
 
In 2023, UC needed to defeat Shippensburg twice on the final day of the regional it hosted to advance to the Super Regionals and it did so, edging the Raiders by scores of 4-3 and 7-2.
 
The Golden Eagles are ranked second in the nation with 20 shutouts this season. Charleston ace Addison Mass leads the nation with 30 complete games, is ranked fourth in the nation with 10 shutouts and third in strikeouts with 267.
 
Glenville State:
 
Glenville State won the 2026 MEC championships after defeating Charleston in a pair of games. The Pioneers and Charleston shared the MEC South Division regular season title. 
 
The Pioneers are making their first tournament appearance in program history. GSC has gone 81-31 since the start of the 2025 season.
 
Pioneer ace Kylie Burdick is ranked ninth in the nation in shutouts with nine.