LATHAM, N.Y. - Penn College will take on Christopher Newport in the Opening Round of the 2026 NCAA Softball Championship which will commence on Thursday. That game will take place in Alliance, Ohio as Mount Union will be the host. Lebanon Valley College will roundout the pod.

Find the full bracket here: 2026 NCAA SOFTBALL BRACKET

Penn College has enjoyed its best single-season in program history with a 33-7 record and finished 14-2 in United East competition, only falling to Conference Champion Penn State Brandywine. The Wildcats are led by pitching ace, Mackenzi Tice who tossed every inning of the Wildcat postseason so far. Tice holds the best conference marks in wins (22), innings pitched (162.1), ERA (1.72), opponent batting average (0.194) and 191 strikeouts this season. Offensively, the Wildcats have four batters hitting above .400 on the season, led by Ryleigh Rinker's .453 average with 53 hits, 15 RBIs and 25 runs scored. Payton Crawford (.446) has a team-high 62 hits and six home runs while freshmen Sofia Mileto (.422) and Taylor Brown (.412) are also doing damage at the plate. 

The Wildcats earned their way into the Big Dance by way of the United East’s automatic qualifier. While falling to Penn State Brandywine in the Final, Brandywine was unable to qualify as they are a provisional Division III member.

The Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference Champion, Christopher Newport sports a 28-11 record.  The Captains enter the national tournament ranked 26th in Division III with a .335 batting average and their 48 home runs in the fourth-best mark in the county this season.

Mount Union (29-6), ranked 11th in the latest NFCA Coaches Poll, earned an at-large selection after getting bounced in the Ohio Athletic Conference semifinal while Lebanon Valley (26-15) collected an AQ after winning the MAC Freedom.