2026 NCAA Tournament (College Station Regional)
Who: No. 19 overall/Regions No. 2 Seed Arizona State
When: Thursday, May 15 (3:30 p.m./CT)
Site: College Station, Texas (Davis Diamond)
TV: ESPN+
Tournament Central Link: 12thman.com/ncaasoftball
Tickets: 12thman.com/softballtickets
 
 
LAKE CHARLES—  McNeese will open the 2026 NCAA Regional Softball Tournament against No. 19 ranked Arizona State and the regions No. 2 seed at 3:30 p.m. (CT) Thursday, May 15 at Davis Diamond in College Station.  The game will stream on ESPN+.
 
McNeese (40-20), the Southland Conference Tournament Champions are the No. 3 seed while host Texas A&M (36-17) is the No. 1 seed and UConn (31-26) is the No. 4 seed in this region. 
 
The Cowgirls earned the Southland's automatic bid after defeating Lamar in the Southland Tournament Series last weekend in Lake Charles. 
 
The Cowgirls are making their 10^th overall NCAA Tournament and first appearance since 2023. It's the third time McNeese is playing in the College Station Regional with the last time being in 2018.
 
McNeese enters the tournament having won 17 of its last 20 games and are led at the plate by sophomore Kassidy Chance who has a team best .445 batting average and 65 hits.  She is second on the team with 42 runs scored while Maddie Taylor leads the pitching staff with 18 wins (18-4) and has a 3.79 ERA while Freshman Brookelyn Taylor (13-7) leads the staff with a staff low 3.26 ERA and 93 strikeouts.  
 
Arizona State (41-16) is the Big XII Tournament Champions, having defeated Arizona, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech for the title.
 
This will be the fifth overall meeting against Arizona State with the series tied at two games apiece.  It will be the third time the teams meet in the NCAA Tournament with the series tied at one game apiece. 
 
The teams met in the Baton Rouge Regional in 2016 with the Cowgirls defeating the Sun Devils 5-2 in the first game and the Sun Devils eliminating the Cowgirls from the tournament with 3-2, 14 inning game.
 
 
McNEESE NCAA TOURNAMENT NOTES
• Making its 10th overall NCAA Tournament appearance and sixth under head coach James Landreneau
• First NCAA Tournament appearance since 2023
• McNeese has advanced to two regional championship games (2022/Evanston, Ill.), 2023/Seattle, Wash.)
• It's the fifth time McNeese is a No. 3 seed in a region.
• It's the third time the Cowgirls play in the College Station Regional (2005, 2018).  The Cowgirls are 2-4 in this region.
• Earned the Southland Conference automatic bid by winning the Southland Conference Championship Series last weekend against Lamar
• Have won 17 of its last 20 games
• Have won four out of the last six Southland Conference Tournament titles
• Will open regional play against Arizona State.
• Are 2-2 all-time against Arizona State and 1-1 against the Sun Devils in the NCAA Tournament
• Texas A&M holds a 10-3 all-time series record against the Cowgirls and a 3-0 NCAA Tournament record against McNeese
• It will be the first ever meeting against UConn
• Kassidy Chance, the SLC Tournament MVP, continues to lead the Cowgirls with a .445 batting average and 65hits.  She is second on the team with 42 runs scored.
• Nyjah Fontenot is batting .356 with 48 hits and 35 RBI
• Rylee Cloud leads the team with 45 runs scored, 49 RBI, four triples
• Jada Munoz leads with 10 homeruns
• Maddie Taylor also leads the team with 45 walks.
• In the circle sophomore Maddie Taylor leads the staff in wins (18-4) and has a 3.79 ERA with 70 strikeouts, three saves in 133.0 innings.
• Freshman Brookelyn Taylor (13-7) leads the staff with a 3.26 ERA, 93 strikeouts, five saves and 124.2 innings pitched.
 
McNEESE vs. THE TOURNAMENT FIELD
Arizona State
Series Record: tied 2-2
NCAA Tournament Record vs. the Sun Devils: 1-1
2016 (Baton Rouge Regional)
won 5-2
lost 3-2 (14 innings)
 
Texas A&M
Series Record: TAMU leads 10-3
NCAA Tournament Record vs. the Aggies: TAMU leads 3-0
2005 (College Station Regional)
lost 6-3
2010 (Baton Rouge Regional)
lost 2-0
2018 (College Station Regional)
lost 10-1 (10 inn.)
 
UCONN
Series Record: First Meeting
 
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
(Home Team in Bold)
Friday, May 15
Game 1 – 1 p.m. - Texas A&M vs. UConn (ESPN2)
Game 2 – 3:30 p.m. Arizona State vs. McNeese (ESPN+)
 
Saturday, May 16
Game 3 – 2 p.m. - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
Game 4 – 4:30 p.m. - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
Game 5 – 7 p.m. - Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3 
 
Sunday, May 17
Game 6 – 2 p.m. - Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5
Game 7 – 4:30 p.m. -  Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (if necessary)