Big South Announces Seedings for 2026 Softball Championship
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) -- For the first time since 2008,
Winthrop University is the No. 1 seed in the Big South Softball Championship following the conclusion of the conference season this afternoon. The Eagles clinched their first outright Big South regular-season championship since the 2008 season for the program’s seventh overall/shared title, and is seeking its first Big South Tournament crown since that same year. The top five teams in the final standings qualified for the league’s postseason championship, which will be contested May 6-9 at Cyrill Softball Stadium on the campus of USC Upstate in Spartanburg, S.C.
Winthrop finished league play with a 13-4 conference record and .765 winning percentage to clinch the top seed for just the fifth time (1989-91-05-08-26), while the Eagles’ 13 Big South victories are their most since 2019 (14). Two-time defending Tournament Champion and host
USC Upstate is the No. 2 seed after finishing second in the standings at 12-6 (.667 winning percentage).
Radford finished third at 10-8 (.556) for the No. 3 seed, while
Presbyterian College and
Gardner-Webb tied for fourth-place at 8-10 (.444). The Blue Hose received the No. 4 seed based on their 2-1 season series win over the Runnin’ Bulldogs to push GWU to the fifth and final seed.
The 2026 Softball Championship begins Wednesday, May 6, with No. 4 Presbyterian vs. No. 5 Gardner-Webb at 5:00pm, continues with three games each on Thursday and Friday, May 7-8, and concludes Saturday, May 9 with two potential Championship contests starting at 12:00pm. Every game will be broadcast on ESPN+. The Big South’s Tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Softball Regionals. The Conference Championship schedule is below and is subject to change due to weather.
Wednesday, May 6 (Game 1); TV: ESPN+
Game 1 – (4) Presbyterian vs. (5) Gardner-Webb, 5:00pm
Thursday, May 7 (Games 2-4); TV: ESPN+
Game 2 – (2) USC Upstate vs. (3) Radford, 12:00pm
Game 3 – (1) Winthrop vs. Winner Game 1, 2:30pm
Game 4 - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 5:00pm (elimination)
Friday, May 8 (Games 5-7); TV: ESPN+
Game 5 - Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3, 12:00pm
Game 6 - Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 2:30pm (elimination)
Game 7 - Loser Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 5:00pm (elimination)
Saturday, May 9 - Championship Day (Games 8-9); TV: ESPN+
Game 8 - Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 7, 12:00pm
** Game 9 - If Necessary, same two teams from Game 8, 2:30pm