MEDFORD, MA (June 16, 2025) - Tufts University has placed two players on the 2026 Academic All-America® softball teams selected by College Sports Communicators (CSC) and announced today. Both 2026 Tufts graduates,
Lauryn Horita is on the first team and
Haley Leimbach made the third team.
Horita and Leimbach are two of 33 individuals in the nation to receive the honor, which recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. Horita is the only player from New England on the first team. Head coach
Lauren Ebstein's Jumbos are one of just five teams in the nation with two or more honorees. Tufts has two of the three recipients from the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) on the Academic All-America® teams.
This past season, Horita and Leimbach helped lead Tufts to a 31-12 record and a tie for the #25 spot in the final National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division III poll. The Jumbos earned the #1 seed in the NESCAC regular season with a 14-4 mark and hosted an NCAA Regional at Spicer Field.
Both players graduated with summa cum laude honors from Tufts on May 17, 2026. Horita, a biology major, earned a 3.92 grade point average, while Leimbach achieved a 3.90 GPA as a mechanical engineering graduate. Both were three-year NESCAC All-Academic Team members for carrying grade point averages over 3.50 throughout their careers.
Horita earned NFCA All-Region second team and NESCAC All-Conference first team awards for 2026. A DP and outfielder, she batted leadoff for most of the season and hit .343 with a team-high 39 runs scored, 12 doubles, three home runs and 35 runs batted in while playing in all 43 games. She earned the NESCAC Player of the Week honor on April 13.
Leimbach capped her career as one of the best defensive players in the nation. She won her second Rawlings Gold Glove Award for her play at first base and was also the NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year. An NFCA All-Region first team selection, she hit .333 with 33 runs scored, eight doubles, two home runs and 22 rbis in 43 games. She was also a NESCAC Player of the Week award on March 9.
Both players were two-time NFCA All-Region selections who started for Tufts teams that won the NESCAC title in 2025 and advanced to the College World Series in 2024.
A total of 12 Tufts student-athletes have earned CSC Academic All-America® awards for the 2025-26 year, one shy of last year's best-ever total of 13.
See the full 2025-26 2023-24 Academic All- America® Softball Teams
HERE.
--JUMBOS--
