The Big 12 Conference had an incredible first two days of the 2026 NCAA Softball Tournament.
By the end of Saturday, five teams had advanced to regionals finals without losing a game. One won in a fashion never seen before in the tournament. The other two teams had to get to Sunday softball the hard way, but only one advanced.
Here is how each team got to Sunday’s final day of action.
NCAA Tournament Regionals
Miracle in Lubbock
What does a team do when it is down 8-0 in the seventh inning? Well, before Saturday, teams were 0-640 when in that situation in the NCAA softball tournament. Then Texas Tech went and did this.
Down to their final out, the Texas Tech Red Raiders’ Lauren Allred tied the game with a grand slam in the seventh. Tech went on to beat Ole Miss in extra innings, 9-8.
The comeback was not only historic but made the Red Raiders’ path to super regionals easier. Tech will play on Sunday, and a win moves them to the round of 16.
Revenge in Stillwater
Oklahoma State lost to Stanford twice in the regular season. Those games were in the first weekend of the season in California. Well, OSU hit three home runs, with Rosie Davis, Kayla Godwin and Tia Warsop all slamming home runs in a 7-2 win over the Cardinal.
Pitcher Ruby Meylan won her 28th game of the year and the Cowgirls won their 40th game of the season as they are now one win away from super regionals. OSU plays on Sunday in Stillwater.
Upset in College Station
There’s a reason why Arizona State won the Big 12 Tournament. The Sun Devils beat the Top 3 seeds in Oklahoma City, and they weren’t the least bit scared of Texas A&M, which was hosting its regional.
The former Big 12 school was in shock as it would have to play another game on Saturday to get a rematch with the Sun Devils on Sunday. It was ASU, which reached the regional final for the first time in four seasons, that got the night off.
UCF Nails Down Regional Final
Stetson’s upset of Florida State on Friday greased a path for the UCF Knights to reach the regional final. They had to outlast Jacksonville State, 2-1, in eight innings on Friday. So the Knights barely avoided an upset. But, on Saturday, UCF blew out Stetson, 10-1, in five innings to reach the regional final.
Now, the Knights still must beat Florida State. The Seminoles put away Jacksonville State and Stetson on Saturday to reach the regional final. UCF has some wiggle room though. Florida State must beat the Knights twice to advance to super regionals.
Wildcats Roll Out East
Arizona is 109-14 in regionals and has reached super regionals in each of its last three regional road appearances. That record is updated after wins over Marshall and Duke in the Durham regional. The Wildcats now await their opponent on Sunday.
Arizona’s ability to win on the road historically is going to be difficult for any opponent to overcome. The Wildcats were eliminated by Arizona State in the Big 12 Tournament but have some of the best hitters in the country. The Wildcats run-ruled Duke.
With that kind of power and the cushion of needing to lose twice to be eliminated, Arizona holds the cards when it comes to advancing to super regionals.
Kansas Walks Off, Then Walks into Trouble
Whether the Kansas Jayhawks get out of the Norman Regional or not, they already did something epic. In their first NCAA softball tournament appearance since 2015, Kansas walked off a win over Michigan on Friday in a 1-0 game. Ava Wallace did the honors with a walk-off RBI single.
The vibes were less immaculate against Oklahoma in a winner’s bracket game on Saturday, as Kansas lost, 9-0. That led to a rematch with Michigan for another shot at the Sooners.
The game went back and forth, but Michigan outlasted Kansas, 12-10, with a walk-off three-run seventh inning. The Jayhawks were the first Big 12 team eliminated from the tournament.
No-No in Austin
The Baylor Bears avoided elimination with a 5-2 win over Wisconsin on Saturday. That was after opening the Austin Regional with a 2-1 loss to Wisconsin, followed by a 9-0 win over Wagner to stave off elimination before beating the Badgers. That sets the Bears up to face the top seed in the regional, Texas, on Sunday.
That Wagner game was significant for pitcher Sadie Ross. No-hitters have that effect.
Ross struck out six and walked two as she kept the Bears alive.
