Manhattan has been a member of the [[Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference]] since its inception in 1980 and has fielded a softball team each year since 1987.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://maacsports.com/sports/2017/6/29/SB_0629170649.aspx?id=2443&=|title=Softball Standings 1986-2022|website=maacsports.com}}</ref> Despite this, the Lady Jaspers have managed to win the conference regular season championship only twice in that timespan, sharing titles in both 1994 and 2009 with [[Canisius Golden Griffins softball|Canisius]] and [[Fairfield Stags softball|Fairfield]] respectively. Manhattan has won the conference tournament twice, doing so in 1999 and 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gojaspers.com/news/2021/5/15/manhattan-wins-2021-maac-softball-championship.aspx|title=Manhattan Wins 2021 MAAC Softball Championship|website=Manhattan College Athletics}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mcquad.org/2022/02/01/jaspers-recognized-for-2021-maac-softball-championship%ef%bf%bc/|title=Jaspers Recognized for 2021 MAAC Softball Championship|date=February 1, 2022|website=The Quadrangle}}</ref> In doing so, they advanced to the [[NCAA Division I softball tournament]] both years.
In the [[1999 NCAA Division I softball tournament]], the Lady Jaspers were defeated in their first game by the [[Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns softball|Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns]] by a score of 15–0 in a game that ended via [[mercy rule]] after five innings.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.softballhistoryusa.com/category/1999/|title=1999|website=Softball History USA}}</ref> Manhattan was eliminated from the tournament after losing their second and final game of the tournament, this time in a 4–3 loss to the [[LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds softball|LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds]] that went to extra innings.<ref name="auto1"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://maacsports.com/sports/2017/6/21/GEN_0621170838.aspx|title=MAAC Chronology|website=maacsports.com}}</ref>
The Lady Jaspers returned to the tournament for the first time in 22 years in [[2021 NCAA Division I softball tournament|2021]] where they faced off against the sixth ranked [[Arkansas Razorbacks softball|Arkansas Razorbacks]] and were defeated 8–0 innings via the mercy rule.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.5newsonline.com/article/sports/arkansas-softball-takes-down-manhattan-in-first-round-of-ncaa-tournament/527-1ff280d6-b554-4e8f-ab78-ecff625e5183|title=Arkansas softball takes down Manhattan in first round of NCAA Tournament|date=May 21, 2021|website=5newsonline.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wholehogsports.com/news/2021/may/21/haff-ua-softball-shut-out-manhattan/|title=Razorbacks shut down Manhattan in opening game of NCAA regional|website=wholehogsports.com}}</ref> The team was sent to the losers bracket where they were officially eliminated from the tournament by the [[Stanford Cardinal softball|Stanford Cardinal]], losing an 11–2 contest.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://stanforddaily.com/2021/05/23/softball-eliminated-from-ncaa-tournament/|title=Softball eliminated from NCAA Tournament|date=May 23, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ncaa.com/game/5843584|title=Stanford vs Manhattan DI Softball Game Summary - May 22nd, 2021 | NCAA.com|website=www.ncaa.com}}</ref>
