2026 CAC Softball Championship Bracket, Schedule Released
Lawrenceville, GA: The seeds and first-day matchups are set for the 2026 Continental Athletic Conference Softball Championship, which begins Wednesday, April 29, at Georgia Gwinnett College's Grizzly Softball Complex in Lawrenceville, Georgia.
GGC is the tournament's top seed and will be seeking its ninth straight league title. Florida National University is the No. 2 seed and Westcliff University (California) will be making the cross-country trek to play as the No. 3 seed. Alice Lloyd College (Kentucky) stands as the No. 4 seed and Carolina University (North Carolina) rounds out the postseason field as the No. 5 seed.
The double-elimination tournament begins on Wednesday with Alice Lloyd (30-12) facing Carolina (14-28) in a game starting at noon. Then, Florida National (24-15) will play Westcliff (17-21) at 2:30 p.m. Georgia Gwinnett (24-21) will meet the winner of the earlier Alice Lloyd-Carolina game in a contest starting at 5 p.m.
Play is scheduled to continue through Saturday, May 1. The CAC champion will represent the conference in the Opening Round of the 2026 NAIA national tournament.
Florida National advanced to the championship round in 2024, while Westcliff was the runner-up of last year's tournament in its first season as a CAC member. Alice Lloyd and Carolina are making their CAC postseason debuts this spring.
The tournament schedule is:
Wednesday, April 29
Game 1: No. 4 seed Alice Lloyd College (Kentucky) vs. No. 5 seed Carolina University (North Carolina), noon
Game 2: No. 2 seed Florida National University vs. No. 3 seed Westcliff University (California), 2:30 p.m.
Game 3: No. 1 seed Georgia Gwinnett College vs. Winner of Game 1, 5 p.m.
Thursday, April 30
Game 4: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 11 a.m.
Game 5: Winner of Game 2 vs. Winner of Game 3, 3 p.m.
Game 6: Loser of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4, 7 p.m.
Friday, May 1
Game 7: Loser of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6, 11 a.m.
Game 8: Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 7, 3 p.m.
Saturday, May 2
Game 9: If necessary game between same two teams as Game 8, 11 a.m.
Article courtesy of the CAC