Two consecutive American Conference regular-season championships. A program on the rise. 10 returning seniors. The deepest pitching staff in school history. And a schedule so intense it could break a team that isn’t completely committed.
Led by third-year head coach Jordan Clark, the Owls are coming off back-to-back regular-season titles and their first NCAA regional appearance, and do not plan on slowing down anytime soon.
The Owls are ranked first in the American Conference preseason rankings and also received votes from the D1Softball Top 25 preseason poll.
“This year our theme is all in, we’re gonna bet on us all in for the house,” said pitcher Autumn Courtney, the program’s fifth All-American in school history. “All of us are gonna do whatever it takes to get to our collective goal of a championship.”
FAU earned an invitation to the prestigious Clearwater Classic, making them one of just two Group of 5 programs in a field dominated by some of college softball’s most elite programs. When catcher Chloe Yeatts was asked what that meant to the team, her answer revealed everything about this program’s mentality:
“Coach Jordan doesn’t think of this as a mid-major team,” Yeatts said. “We think of it as if we are a Power Four school; we’re gonna compete as a Power Four school and whatever we have to do to get it done, to beat those higher-up teams, we’re gonna do.”
In their first 10 games, the Owls will face No. 2 Texas Tech, No. 4 Tennessee, and eight different Power Four opponents, including No. 7 Florida State, Indiana and Wisconsin. “On paper, this schedule is stacked,” Clark said. “We are gonna play eight of our nine Power Four opponents within the first 10 games, which is really crazy.”
Their opening game alone sets the tone for the rest of the season: Indiana, a 2024 regional qualifier and Big10 Conference opponent. Game two: Ohio State, another Big 10 opponent. Game three: Wisconsin – all back-to-back-to-back games.
“You can’t just take a game off,” Clark said. “You have to be prepared for all five.”
Part of Clark’s confidence comes from her team’s unprecedented depth. For the first time in her tenure at FAU, she can legitimately say all seven pitchers on her team are ready to contribute at a high level: “This is the first year that I can truly say all seven pitchers will throw,” Clark said. “In years past, I wouldn’t have said that.”
She’s embraced the poker metaphor thoroughly when discussing her pitching staff. “We have seven aces, and we get to decide when we play those aces against other people’s lower cards,” she explained.
The poker theme extends beyond just a catchy slogan; Clark uses it as a teaching tool, a way to challenge her players to commit to their roles fully: “If we’re gonna do something really special, really rare this year, we’re gonna need all 26 all in at all times when it gets hard,” she said.
That depth includes returning closing pitcher Ainsley Lambert, whose fifth-year return gives the Owls a proven commodity in the circle. It also includes three freshman pitchers – Makenna Lee, Ashlynn Durkin, and Madilyn Byrd – who will see significant innings.
“We recruited them to do this. We recruited them to be the face of the program eventually,” Clark said. “And so to see them get comfortable and start to trust their stuff is really cool.”
For seniors like infielder Jesiana Mora and infielder Cameryn Orland, this season represents the four-year journey that has transformed FAU softball from afterthought to contender. “Obviously, to leave this place better than how I found it,” Mora said when asked about her legacy goals. “Coming in here my freshman year, it’s not like how it is now.”
Mora was named a Top 100 preseason player by D1Softball, ranked No. 69, and ranked No. 6 among third basemen nationally. She is also the reigning American Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
Orland, returning from an ACL injury suffered pre-season last year, echoed that sentiment: “This is the best it’s ever been in school history. We want the people below us in different grades to be the best they can possibly be as humans, as softball players.”
Clark praised the loyalty of players like Mora, outfielder Kylie Hammonds, and infielder Yani Guzman – all four-year players who could have explored other options elsewhere, but chose to stay and build something special with this program.
“For them to show that this is where they wanna be and for FAU to kind of be that destination spot for them … It’s special,” Clark said. “It’s special to have people for four years.”
FAU opens the 2026 season at home at Joan Joyce Field with the Paradise Classic on Friday, Feb. 5, against the Indiana University Hoosiers; the first pitch is set for 6 p.m.
Angelina Martell is the Editor-in-Chief for the University Press. Email her at [email protected] or DM her on Instagram @angieemartell for more information on this and other stories.
