Manhattan Jaspers softball

The Manhattan Jaspers softball team represents Manhattan University in NCAA Division I college softball. The team participates in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). The Jaspers are currently led by head coach Bridget Hurlman. The team plays its home games at Gaelic Park which is located on the college's campus.^[2]

Manhattan Jaspers softball
University	Manhattan University
Head coach	Bridget Hurlman (1st season)
Conference	MAAC
Location	Bronx, NY
Home stadium	Gaelic Park
Nickname	Jaspers
Colors	Green and white[1]
NCAA Tournament appearances
1999, 2021
Conference tournament championships
1999, 2021
Regular-season conference championships
1994, 2009

For information on all Manhattan University sports, see Manhattan Jaspers

History

Manhattan has been a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference since its inception in 1980 and has fielded a softball team each year since 1987.^[3] Despite this, the Jaspers have managed to win the conference regular season championship only twice in that timespan, sharing titles in both 1994 and 2009 with Canisius and Fairfield respectively. Manhattan has won the conference tournament twice, doing so in 1999 and 2021.^[4][5] In doing so, they advanced to the NCAA Division I softball tournament both years.

In the 1999 NCAA Division I softball tournament, the Jaspers were defeated in their first game by Louisiana by a score of 15–0 in a game that ended via mercy rule after five innings.^[6] Manhattan was eliminated from the tournament after losing their second and final game of the tournament, this time in a 4–3 loss to LIU Brooklyn that went to extra innings.^[6][7]

The Jaspers returned to the tournament for the first time in 22 years in 2021 where they faced off against sixth ranked Arkansas and were defeated 8–0 innings via the mercy rule.^[8][9] The team was sent to the losers bracket where they were officially eliminated from the tournament by Stanford, losing an 11–2 contest.^[10][11]

Former head coach Cat Clifford departed from the program after the 2023 season.^[12] On June 6, 2023, it was announced by the NCAA that the Manhattan athletic program improperly certified 26 student athletes across six sports, including softball. The Jaspers' softball program was handed additional penalties after it was found that a former assistant coach improperly recruited players without completing a mandatory recruiting exam. The assistant also failed to cooperate with the investigation.^[13] The college was hit with several penalties, which included being placed on two years of probation, a $5,000 fine, a suspension for the softball head coach for the first two non-conference games of the 2024 season, a 16-day prohibition against all softball recruiting activities during the June/July 2023 contact period, a five year show cause penalty for the former assistant coach, and a vacation of all records in which the student athletes competed while ineligible.^[14] The MAAC released a statement in support of the NCAA's findings, while also maintaining they will continue to work with Manhattan to ensure the penalties are enforced.^[15]

Former Rhode Island head coach Bridget Hurlman was named as Manhattan's next head coach following the departure of Clifford.^[16]

Coaching history

Years	Coach	Record	%
1989–1995[17]	Paul Mazzei	N/A	N/A
1996–2001	Susan Hannon	107–160–1	.401[18][19]
2002	Lois J. Kahl	15–27	.357[20]
2003–2004	Jennifer Fisher	24–66	.267[21]
2005–2009	Meaghan Asselta	83–153	.352[22]
2010–2021	Tom Pardalis	275–274–1	.501
2022–2023	Cat Clifford	26–67	.280
2024–present	Bridget Hurlman	13–37	.260

Roster

2024 Manhattan Jaspers roster
	Pitchers 13 – Mollie Charest – Senior 31 – Alexandra Hess – Freshman 9 – Ava Metzger – Junior 14 – Gabi Mills – Junior 29 – Karissa Spring – Freshman 16 – Makayla Veneziale – Junior Catchers 2 – Kaitlyn Flood – Graduate Student 18 – Megan Hedlund – Senior 3 – Gabriella Mazzotta – Graduate Student 12 – Paige McLaughlin – Freshman 21 – Anissa Villalobos – Junior 22 – Maddy Weir – Sophomore		Infielders 4 – Bella Cahueque – Sophomore 11 – Jamie Falotico – Sophomore 25 – Lily Fish – Senior 30 – Kylie Flaherty – Freshman 17 – Camryn O'Connor – Freshman 99 – Lauren Rende – Graduate Student 43 – Kristyn Smith – Senior 24 – Grace Ware – Senior Outfielders 5 – Lindsey Hoag – Junior 00 – Kaitlyn Holly – Senior 15 – Kalyn Markel – Freshman Utility 8 – Sophia Kiseloski– Sophomore
Reference:[23]

Season by season results

Statistics overview

Season	Coach	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Manhattan Jaspers (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) (1987–present)
1987	N/A[N 1]	N/A	N/A	7th[3]
1988	N/A	N/A	N/A	8th[3]
1989	Paul Mazzei	N/A	N/A	6th
1990	Paul Mazzei	N/A	N/A	9th
1991	Paul Mazzei	N/A	N/A	4th
1992	Paul Mazzei	N/A	N/A	N/A
1993	Paul Mazzei	34–17	N/A	3rd
1994	Paul Mazzei	N/A	N/A	T–1st
1995	Paul Mazzei	N/A	N/A	2nd
1996	Susan Hannon	N/A	N/A	4th
1997	Susan Hannon	N/A	N/A	N/A
1998	Susan Hannon	N/A	N/A	N/A
1999	Susan Hannon	23–25	8–8	4th	NCAA Regionals
2000	Susan Hannon	21–31	7–9	T–6th
2001	Susan Hannon	17–26	7–9	T–5th
2002	Lois J. Kahl	15–27	6–19	6th
2003	Jennifer Fisher	8–33	3–13	9th
2004	Jennifer Fisher	16–33	9–7	T–3rd
2005	Meaghan Asselta	22–25	9–7	T–4th
2006	Meaghan Asselta	26–24	6–10	T–6th
2007	Meaghan Asselta	4–42	3–13	9th
2008	Meaghan Asselta	11–35	6–10	6th
2009	Meaghan Asselta	20–27	11–5	T–1st
2010	Tom Pardalis	25–23–1	9–7	4th
2011	Tom Pardalis	25–23	12–4	T–2nd
2012	Tom Pardalis	11–36	6–10	8th
2013	Tom Pardalis	21–25	9–7	T–4th
2014	Tom Pardalis	26–29	10–10	6th
2015	Tom Pardalis	26–20	13–7	T–3rd
2016	Tom Pardalis	30–21	14–6	2nd
2017	Tom Pardalis	34–21	13–7	T–3rd
2018	Tom Pardalis	28–25	10–10	5th
2019	Tom Pardalis	20–30[N 2]	7–13[N 2]	7th
2020	Tom Pardalis	6–6[N 2]	0–0	N/A	Season cut short due to COVID-19 Pandemic
2021	Tom Pardalis	22–16[N 2]	17–13[N 2]	6th	NCAA Regionals
2022	Cat Clifford	13–30[N 2]	7–11[N 2]	8th
2023	Cat Clifford	13–35	8–12	9th
2024	Bridget Hurlman	13–37	10–14	8th
Total:		530–722–2 (.423)[N 3]
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

Notes

1. Coach names are unavailable for 1987 and 1988, although MAAC records indicate a team was fielded in those years.
2. Records vacated due to ineligible player.
3. Overall records are unavailable from 1987 to 1992, and from 1994 to 1998. Conference records are unavailable from 1987 to 1998. Conference finishing position in 1992, 1997, and 1998 is unavailable. All other finishing positions are available via MAAC record book.^[3]

See also

• List of NCAA Division I softball programs