McNeese will open the 2026 NCAA Regional Softball Tournament against No. 19 ranked Arizona State, the region’s No. 2 seed, at Davis Diamond in College Station on May 15. The game is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Central Time and will be streamed on ESPN+.
The Cowgirls (40-20), who recently won the Southland Conference Tournament, are seeded third in their region. Texas A&M (36-17) is the top seed and host, while UConn (31-26) holds the fourth seed.
This marks McNeese’s tenth overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its first since 2023. It is also their third time competing in a College Station Regional, with previous appearances in 2005 and 2018. The team earned an automatic bid by defeating Lamar last weekend.
McNeese has been strong leading up to the tournament, winning seventeen of its last twenty games. Sophomore Kassidy Chance leads at bat with a .445 average and sixty-five hits, while Maddie Taylor leads pitching with eighteen wins and a 3.79 ERA; freshman Brookelyn Taylor holds a staff-low ERA of 3.26 with ninety-three strikeouts.
Arizona State enters as Big XII Tournament Champions after defeating Arizona, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech for their title. This will be the fifth meeting between McNeese and Arizona State; both teams have two wins each overall and one win apiece when facing off in NCAA Tournament play.
Looking ahead, McNeese aims to build on recent successes under head coach James Landreneau as they begin regional play against Arizona State.
