Softball Kicks Off Season at River State Classic

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Brown softball begins its season with a five-game weekend at the River State Classic, hosted by Texas State.

The Bears will begin the weekend with games on Friday (Feb. 20) against No. 24 Oklahoma State (12 p.m. ET) and Kansas City (2:30 p.m. ET). On Saturday (Feb. 21), the Bears will again take on Oklahoma State (4:30 p.m. ET) and close out the night against Colorado State (7 p.m. ET). The final game of the weekend will be against Texas State on Sunday (Feb. 22) at 11 a.m. ET.

Brown's game against Texas State will be streamed on ESPN+.

THE FIRST PITCH
• Brown begins its 2026 season at the River State Classic, playing games against Oklahoma State, Kansas City, Colorado State and Texas State. The Bears begin the quest for a repeat of their Ivy League Tournament championship from a year ago.
• Brown will be looking to replace two major contributors from last season. Brown lost its battery of pitcher Alexas Guevara and catcher Laurel Moody. Moody was unanimously named Ivy League Player of the Year and Guevara was named Ivy League Tournament Most Outstanding Player. Both players etched their names into the Brown record book a season ago.
• After finishing with no more than 18 wins since the 2010 season, the Bears tied a program record with 33 victories under first-year head coach Mary Holt-Kelsch. The 13 Ivy League wins were also the most in program history.
• Brown will see two new programs on their schedule to start the season as the Bears have never faced off against Oklahoma State and Kansas City.

SCOUTING THE COWGIRLS
• Oklahoma State is 6-4 on the season and will play games against Kansas City and Texas State before playing Brown.
• The Cowgirls went 3-2 at last weekend's Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational beating No. 20/17 Georgia, No. 8 Texas A&M and No. 6-7 UCLA.
• Oklahoma State enters the week at No. 19 in the ESPN/USA Softball poll and No. 25 in the NFCA Coaches Poll
• Karli Godwin leads the Cowgirls with a .429 batting average and is tied for the team lead with 12 hits.
• Seven players have hit a home run this season with Jayelle Austin having hit two.
• RyLee Crandall is 3-0 on the season with a 4.92 ERA. Ruby Meylan has a team-high 34 strikeouts.

INSIDE THE SERIES
• This is the first meeting between Brown and Oklahoma State

SCOUTING THE ROOS
• Kansas City is 4-4 on the season and enters the weekend having won its last two games with wins over Evansville and Ball State.
• Megan Johnson leads the Roos at the play with a .417 batting average. Four other players are also hitting over .300 this season.
• Delilah Robles is leading Kansas City in the circle with a 3-2 record, 2.59 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 27 innings pitched.

INSIDE THE SERIES
• This is the first meeting between Brown and Kansas City

SCOUTING THE RAMS
• Colorado State is 4-6 on the season and has lost its last two games entering the third weekend of the season.
• The Rams have allowed at least four runs in all six of their losses this season. In their four wins, Colorado State has thrown two shutouts and allowed no more than two runs in the other two wins.
• Lauren Stucky and Kyra Smith are both hitting over .400 on the season and have 14 and 13 hits, respectively.
• Reagan Wick is 2-2 on the season but holds a 1.81 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 27 innings.

INSIDE THE SERIES
• Brown is 0-4 all-time against Colorado State. The last meeting took place in 2013.

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
• Texas State is 5-4 on the season. The Bobcats lost 9-0 in six innings to No. 11 Arkansas to close out last weekend.
• The Bobcats earned a 4-0 win over No. 18 Clemson to start last weekend.
• Two Bobcats are hitting .400 or better this season with Keely Williams leading the team with a .440 average and team-high 11 hits.
• Six different Bobcats have thrown a pitch for Texas state this season. Madison Azua holds a 3-3 record in a team-high 28.2 innings with 28 strikeouts.

INSIDE THE SERIES
• Brown is 0-2 all-time against Texas State with the only two meetings coming in the 2001 season

THE HOLT-KELSCH EFFECT
• In her first season as head coach of the Bears, Mary Holt-Kelsch put together one of the best seasons in program history. The Bears tied the program record with 33 wins and won the Ivy League Tournament to earn Brown's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1997.
• Brown's 13 Ivy League wins are the most in program history.
• The Bears finished with the team's first winning overall record since 1996 and first winning Ivy record since 1997
• Under Holt-Kelsch's guidance, former catcher Laurel Moody was unanimously named Ivy League Player of the Year after breaking multiple program records.
• Former pitcher Alexis Guevara was named Ivy League Tournament Most Outstanding Player.

LONE STAR TO START
• Brown will begin the season in the Lone Star State for a five-game tournament hosted by Texas State.
• Brown will be starting the season in the state they finished last year when the Bears played in the Lubbock Regional of the NCAA Tournament.
• This will be the first trip to Texas that Brown has made since the 2022 season when the Bears went 3-1 against then Houston Baptist and Prairie View A&M.

FLORIDA SUN
• A familiar location for the Bears, Brown will head to Florida for the second tournament of the season.
• Brown will be going to Florida for the third time in the last five years, this time heading to Jacksonville for five games.

SHIPPING UP TO BOSTON
• Brown's final weekend trip of the preseason will be a two-day round robin at Boston University, being joined by UMass Lowell.
• The Bears will be making their first trip to Boston U. since 2006 and just the third road game at Boston U. since 2000.

LONG TIME NO SEE
• The Bears are scheduled to play multiple teams for the first time in program history and a handful of teams they have not seen in years.
• The most recent contest with any team in the first weekend is 2013 (Colorado State).
• Brown has not played both Jacksonville and North Florida since the 2009 season.
• The Bears will be playing UMass Lowell for the first time in program history and the matchup at Massachusetts will be the first time in the series since 2005.

REPLACING THE RECORD HOLDERS
• Brown will have to replace two massive contributors to the Ivy League Tournament team from a season ago. Both 2025 Ivy League Player of the Year Laurel Moody and Ivy League Tournament Most Outstanding Player Alexis Guevara graduated after last season. Both players were also named First Team All-Ivy.
• Moody led the Bears last season with a .425 batting average, 62 hits, 34 runs scored, 15 home runs, 42 RBI and 31 walks.
• Moody's hits, home runs, RBI and walks were all Brown single-season program records.
• Guevara finished the season throwing over 100 more innings than any other pitcher of staff, became the second 20-game winner in Brown program history and her 166 strikeouts were a Brown program record by 39.
• Guevara finished her career with as the all-time strikeout leader at Brown with 411 and was fifth in both innings pitched (516.0) and wins (43).

PRESEASON PREDICTION
• Despite the loss of Moody and Guevara, Brown was picked to finish fourth in the Ivy League Preseason Poll. The Bears are behind Princeton, Harvard and Columbia and finished four points ahead of Dartmouth.

FOXX GOES PRO
• Sophomore catcher Maggie Foxx made history being drafted in the second round of the Women's Professional Baseball League (WPBL) last November. Foxx will begin play in the new league's inaugural season next August.

HSIAO ME SOME DOUBLES
• Senior Jasmine Hsiao is sitting on 31 career doubles heading into the season. Hsiao, who had double-digit doubles in her first two seasons, before finishing with eight last season, is just four doubles from moving into a tie for fifth place all-time at Brown.
• Hsiao is only 11 doubles away from tying the program record for two-baggers in a career.

WHO'S THROWING
• With the graduation of Guevara, the Bears will be losing 57% of their innings pitched, 66.7% of strikeouts and 61% of their wins from a season ago.
• Junior Macy Borowski will look to take on a larger roll after finishing last year with 82 innings, 59 strikeouts and nine wins - all second on the team.
• Sophomore Edie Cobb only threw 31 innings last season and collected a 3-3 record. Cobb made just three starts but appeared in 17 contests last season.
• Freshman Jordan Simmons could see action this season as Brown's third starter. Simmons hails from Orange, Calif.

NEW FACES
• Alongside Jordan Simmons joining the pitching staff, Brown brings in six first years to the program who will vie for playing time this year.
• Sophomore Anya Zupkofska posted her first-career shutout in the 1-0 win over Merrimack on Oct. 19.

RIDING HIGH IN 2025
• On top of the impressive seasons by Moody and Guevara in 2025, the Bears put together one of the best statistical seasons in program history.
• Brown finished with the most hits (348), most runs scored (243), most RBI (206), most at bats (1,309) and tied for the most home runs (32) in program history. The Bears also finished in the top five in doubles (59) and walks (152).
• Brown's pitching staff threw the program's most innings (332.1) and collected a program record 249 strikeouts.

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Softball Kicks Off Season at River State Classic

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Players Mentioned

Macy Borowski

Edie Cobb

Maggie Foxx

Alexis Guevara

Jasmine Hsiao

Laurel Moody

Jordan Simmons

Brown University Athletics