2026 Big South Conference softball tournament
| Teams | 5 |
|---|---|
| Format | Double-elimination tournament |
| Finals site |
|
| Champions | USC Upstate (3rd title) |
| Winning coach | Chris Hawkins (3rd title) |
| MVP | Maddie Drerup (USC Upstate) |
| Television | Big South Network, ESPN+, ESPN3 |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winthrop † | 13 | – | 4 | .765 | 30 | – | 23 | .566 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USC Upstate ‡y | 12 | – | 6 | .667 | 38 | – | 23 | .623 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Radford | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 24 | – | 27 | .471 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Presbyterian | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 20 | – | 32 | .385 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gardner-Webb | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 32 | – | 25 | .561 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Longwood | 7 | – | 10 | .412 | 21 | – | 32 | .396 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Charleston Southern | 4 | – | 14 | .222 | 10 | – | 41 | .196 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 17, 2026[1] Rankings from NFCA/USA Today | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2026 Big South Conference softball tournament was held at Cyrill Softball Stadium on the campus of University of South Carolina Upstate in Spartanburg, South Carolina from May 6 through May 9, 2026.[2] The tournament was won by the USC Upstate Spartans, who earned the Big South Conference's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Division I softball tournament.[3][4]
Format and seeding
The top five finishers of the league's seven teams from the round-robin regular season qualified for the tournament. The regular season winner earned a single bye, while the remaining teams played opening round games.
Tournament
| Upper round 1 | Upper round 2 | Upper final | Final | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Winthrop | 7 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Presbyterian | 4 | 5 | Gardner-Webb | 6 | ||||||||||||||
| 5 | Gardner-Webb | 6 | 1 | Winthrop | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | USC Upstate | 5 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | USC Upstate | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Radford | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | USC Upstate | 12(5) | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Winthrop | 2 | — | ||||||||||||||||
| Lower round 1 | Lower round 2 | Lower final | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Winthrop | 9 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Gardner-Webb | 4 | 5 | Gardner-Webb | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 4 | Presbyterian | 0 | 3 | Radford | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | Radford | 10(5) | |||||||||||||||||
All Tournament Team
| Player | Team |
|---|---|
| Maddie Drerup | USC Upstate |
| Taliyah Thomas | |
| Carson Shaw | |
| Abby Polk | |
| Peyton Bryden | Winthrop |
| Grayson Buckner | |
| Annelisa Winebarger | |
| Alli Stidham | Gardner-Webb |
| Reese Collier | |
| Dakota Redmon | Radford |
| Morgan Cooper |
MVP in bold
Source:[5]
References
- ↑ "2026 Softball Standings". bigsouthsports.com. Retrieved May 17, 2026.
- ↑ "2025–26 Big South Championship Schedule". Big South Conference. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
- ↑ "2026 Softball Championship". Big South Conference. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
- ↑ "Upstate Softball completes the three-peat as Tournament Champions to advance to NCAA Regionals". University of South Carolina - Upstate. Retrieved 11 May 2026.
- ↑ "#2 USC Upstate Wins 2026 Big South Softball Championship". bigsouthsports.com. Retrieved 11 May 2026.