The 2026 Big East Conference softball tournament was held at Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont, Illinois. The tournament ran from May 7 through May 9, 2026 and determined the champion for the Big East Conference for the 2026 NCAA Division I softball season.[3] UConn won their second consecutive, and ninth overall, tournament championship to earn the Big East Conference's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Division I softball tournament.[4][5][6] All games were broadcast on ESPN+.[7]
| Teams | 4 |
|---|---|
| Format | Double-elimination tournament |
| Finals site | |
| Champions | UConn (9th title) |
| Winning coach | Laura Valentino (2nd title) |
| MVP | Jessica Walter (UConn) |
| Television | ESPN+ |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Providence † | 18 | – | 6 | .750 | 29 | – | 20 | .592 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UConn †‡y | 18 | – | 6 | .750 | 32 | – | 27 | .542 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Creighton | 17 | – | 7 | .708 | 32 | – | 27 | .542 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Butler | 15 | – | 9 | .625 | 25 | – | 21 | .543 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| St. John's | 9 | – | 15 | .375 | 32 | – | 23 | .582 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgetown | 9 | – | 15 | .375 | 16 | – | 26 | .381 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| DePaul | 8 | – | 16 | .333 | 20 | – | 30 | .400 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Villanova | 8 | – | 16 | .333 | 14 | – | 39 | .264 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seton Hall | 6 | – | 18 | .250 | 19 | – | 30 | .388 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of May 17, 2026[1][2] Rankings from NFCA/USA Today | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Format and seeding
editThe top four teams from the conference's round-robin regular season will qualify for the tournament, and will be seeded one through four. They will play a double-elimination tournament. Providence claimed the top seed by tiebreaker over UConn, having won the season series.[8]
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Seed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Providence | 18 | 6 | .750 | — | 1 |
| UConn | 18 | 6 | .750 | — | 2 |
| Creighton | 17 | 7 | .708 | 1 | 3 |
| Butler | 15 | 9 | .625 | 3 | 4 |
| St. John's | 9 | 15 | .375 | 9 | — |
| Georgetown | 9 | 15 | .375 | 9 | — |
| DePaul | 8 | 16 | .333 | 10 | — |
| Villanova | 8 | 16 | .333 | 10 | — |
| Seton Hall | 6 | 18 | .250 | 12 | — |
Tournament
editBracket
edit| Upper round 1 | Upper final | Final | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Providence | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Butler | 10 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Butler | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | UConn | 12 (6) | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Creighton | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | UConn | 9 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | UConn | 2 | 8 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Creighton | 3 | 5 | |||||||||||
| Lower round 1 | Lower final | |||||||||||||
| 3 | Creighton | 9 (6) | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Providence | 2 | 4 | Butler | 0 | |||||||||
| 3 | Creighton | 4 | ||||||||||||
Game results
edit| Date | Game | Winner | Score | Loser | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 7 | Game 1 | (4) Butler | 10–3 | (1) Providence | |
| Game 2 | (2) UConn | 9–3 | (3) Creighton | ||
| Game 3 | (3) Creighton | 4–2 | (1) Providence | Providence eliminated | |
| May 8 | Game 4 | (2) UConn | 12–1 (6) | (4) Butler | |
| Game 5 | (3) Creighton | 9–0 (6) | (4) Butler | Butler eliminated | |
| May 9 | Game 6 | (3) Creighton | 5–2 | ||
| Game 7 | (2) UConn | 8–3 | (3) Creighton | UConn wins Big East Tournament |
All-Tournament Team
editThe following players were named to the All-Tournament Team.[5]
| Pos | Name | Class | School |
|---|---|---|---|
| P | Maren Berger | RS-So. | Butler |
| Landrie Harris | So. | Creighton | |
| Jessica Walter | Gr. | UConn | |
| INF | Julia Renny | Sr. | Providence |
| 1B | Emma Willers | Fr. | UConn |
| Keegan Mayhue | Fr. | Creighton | |
| SS | Cat Petteys | So. | UConn |
| OF | Kaitlyn Breslin | Jr | UConn |
| DP | Kaelan Schultz | Jr. | Creighton |
Most Outstanding Player
editReferences
edit- ↑ "2026 Softball Standings". bigeast.com. Retrieved May 17, 2026.
- ↑ "Big East". D1Softball. Retrieved May 17, 2026.
- ↑ "2025–26 BIG EAST Championships". Big East Conference. Retrieved April 29, 2026.
- ↑ Sofie Davis (April 23, 2026). "Tracking the 31 automatic qualifiers for the 2026 NCAA softball tournament". NCAA. Retrieved April 29, 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Back-to-Back: UConn Wins 2026 BIG EAST Softball Championship". Big East Conference. May 9, 2026. Retrieved May 10, 2026.
- 1 2 Dom Amore (May 9, 2026). "UConn softball team rallies to beat Creighton, 8-3, taking Big East title and NCAA Tournament berth". Hartford Courant. Retrieved May 10, 2026.
- ↑ "2026 BIG EAST Softball Championship". Big East Conference. Retrieved April 29, 2026.
- ↑ "Schedule and Seeding Set for 2026 BIG EAST Softball Championship Presented by JEEP". Big East Conference. May 3, 2026. Retrieved May 4, 2026.