The Florida Atlantic University softball team is set to host the annual Joan Joyce Classic from February 19 to 22 at FAU Softball Stadium in Boca Raton. The tournament will feature teams from Kansas, UMass, Southern Indiana, and Villanova.
The opening game on Thursday will see the Owls (6-5) play against the Kansas Jayhawks (7-4) at 6 p.m. All games involving Florida Atlantic will be streamed on FAUSports.com, while neutral matchups can be viewed on FloSports.
Joan Joyce was a key figure in women’s sports and established the FAU softball program. She served as head coach from its beginning in 1995 until her death in 2022. Joyce is recognized in 18 halls of fame for her achievements across multiple sports including softball, golf, and basketball.
Florida Atlantic recently finished a six-game road trip within Florida. During this stretch, they played three of the top five ranked teams nationally at the Clearwater Invitational and later faced Florida Gulf Coast University. The Owls lost their most recent game to FGCU by a score of 3-2 following a two-RBI walk-off.
Head Coach Jordan Clark is leading the team for her fourth season and holds a record of 127 wins and 53 losses. Clark and her staff were named American Conference Coaching Staff of the Year in both 2024 and 2025.
Florida Atlantic entered this season ranked first in the American Conference Preseason Coaches’ Poll. Senior pitcher Autumn Courtney was named an All-American after earning unanimous American Conference Pitcher of the Year honors last season. She began this year as American Pitcher of the Week with two wins, a save, and sixteen strikeouts against Big Ten opponents.
Sophomore Lily Holtje had five hits, six walks, three doubles, one home run, and six RBIs during her debut weekend with FAU. She received recognition as American Player of the Week for these performances and currently leads her team with ten RBIs.
Senior third baseman Jesiana Mora holds titles as reigning American Defensive Player of the Year and second-team All-Conference selection. After eleven games this season she leads FAU with a .471 batting average, sixteen hits, eleven RBIs, and two home runs.
Freshman pitcher Makenna Lee has started her collegiate career with two wins alongside an earned run average (ERA) of 2.14 over twelve strikeouts.
Tournament passes are available for $30 or $10 per day pass through Ticketmaster or by contacting FAU’s ticket office via phone or email.
After hosting duties conclude at the Joan Joyce Classic, Florida Atlantic will travel next week to face UCF before heading to South Carolina for Coastal Carolina’s Beach Chicken Brawl tournament from February 27 to March 1.
