|
Long Island won the first four NEC titles and then Robert Morris, behind two-time tournament MVP pitcher Tera Prosser, captured the next four. Full round-robin play commenced in 1995. Marist win two straight regular-season titles in 1995 & '96. Robert Morris won the next two and the tournament title in 1998. In 1999, Long Island captured its first title since 1990 and tied Robert Morris for the most NEC tournament championships with five. The Blackbirds took full advantage of the NEC's first-ever automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in 1999 by earning the conference's first NCAA Tournament victory, posting a 4-3 win over Manhattan. UMBC came from the #4 seed to win the 2000 championship, while Long Island won an unprecedented sixth title in 2001. UMBC came back to capture its second crown in three years in 2002 and earned a 7-1 triumph over Liberty in the NCAA Tournament. Long Island won consecutive championships in 2003 and 2004 to make four in the last six years. Robert Morris ended a seven-year drought to claim its sixth NEC title in 2005 before Long Island took home its ninth and tenth league crowns in 2006 and 2007. The Blackbirds won the third NCAA game in conference history with a 5-1 win over Colgage in 2007. Long Island then claimed its third straight NEC championship and 11th overall in 2008. An improbable late season run saw Sacred Heart break LIU's streak in 2009. The Pioneers won their last nine games of the regular season to qualify for the first NEC Tournament in program history, then shut down three straight oppenents to take home the crown. Long Island stormed back to win a 12th tourney crown in 2010, then beat UMass and Boston University to advance to the NCAA Regional Final. Sacred Heart won for the league crown for the second time in three years in a rain-shortened 2011 championship. The Blackbirds were back in the saddle again in 2012, winning its 13th NEC championship. CCSU won its first NEC title in 2013 and beat Northwestern State at the NCAA regional. Bryant became another first-time winner in 2014. CCSU took home its second title in 2015. LIU increased its NEC Tournament haul to 14 by winning the 2016 championship. Saint Francis U set a new NEC single-season record for wins, produced the first perfect regular season in league history and won the first conference tournament title in program history in 2017. The Red Flash also made history when they picked up an NCAA Tournament win over New Mexico State. The Red Flash repeated in 2018 and in the process ran their win streak against NEC opposition to 38 games. SFU did it the hard way in 2019, three-peating after entering the NEC Tournament as the #3 seed. The Red Flash dominated in 2021, winning three straight games behind the lights out pitching of Grace Vesco to make it four consecutive titles. It was all SFU again in 2022 with another 3-0 run through the NEC tourney to become the first program in league history to win five straight championships. SFU's five-year reign came to an end in 2023 as LIU captured its 15th title. SFU reclaimed the title one year later to complete a perfect conference season. The Red Flash went a perfect 24-0 in the regular season, then added three more tourney wins. SFU made it seven titles in eight years in 2025.
LIU has produced five Softball Academic All-Americans. Shortstop Lauren Morizi was named to the 2013 team, while Utility player Jessica DePippo was named to the 2008 squad, outfielder Stephanie White was honored in 1999 team, catcher Gabriela Richeimer was a 1994 selection and pitcher Lesley Renninger was a 1993 pick. Marist's Michele Hudson (1996), UMBC's Crystal Ray (1999) and Robert Morris' Lauren Dickinson (2001) are the only three players to win both the Player and Pitcher of the Year awards in the same season.
|