The 2026 Summit League Softball Championship bracket is officially set, with Omaha claiming the No. 1 seed after capturing its second consecutive regular season title, the second in program history.
The defending champion Mavericks capped a near-perfect conference season, going 15-2 in league play with a perfect 9-0 mark at home, finishing unbeaten on their home field for the first time under head coach Mike Heard.
St. Thomas claimed the No. 2 seed and will make its first postseason appearance since transitioning to Division I. The Tommies finished league play at 12-5, their second-most wins since joining the Summit League behind last year’s 14-win conference season.
With a 13-12 win over South Dakota State on Thursday, North Dakota State secured the No. 3 seed in the tournament, marking its highest seeding since 2023.
Rounding out the championship field is South Dakota as the No. 4 seed, Kansas City as the No. 5 seed and South Dakota State as the No. 6 seed.
The six-team, four-day championship will take place May 6-9 at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn. The championship opens Wednesday with two single-elimination games before shifting to double elimination for the remainder of the schedule. The champion will earn the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
Top-seeded Omaha (34-10, 15-2 SL) will open tournament play Thursday at 11 a.m. CT against the winner of the opening-round matchup between No. 4 South Dakota (16-33-1, 7-11 SL) and No. 5 Kansas City (16-31, 6-12 SL), set for Wednesday at 1 p.m. CT.
The second-seeded Tommies (34-17, 12-5 SL) will begin their tournament run Thursday at 2 p.m. CT against the winner of Wednesday’s Game 2 between No. 3 North Dakota State (27-22, 11-7 SL) and No. 6 South Dakota State (23-32, 5-12 SL), with first pitch for that matchup set for 4 p.m. CT.
All championship games will stream live on the Summit League Network.
Championship Schedule
Wednesday, May 6th
G1: (4) South Dakota vs. (5) Kansas City | 1 p.m. CT
G2: (3) North Dakota State vs. (6) South Dakota State | 4 p.m. CT
Thursday, May 7th
G3: (1) Omaha vs. G1 winner | 11 a.m. CT
G4: (2) St. Thomas vs. G2 winner | 2 p.m. CT
G5: G3 loser vs. G4 loser | 5 p.m. CT
Friday, May 8th
G6: G3 winner vs. G4 winner | 1 p.m. CT
G7: G6 loser vs. G5 winner | 4 p.m. CT
Saturday, May 9th
G8: G6 winner vs. G7 winner | 1 p.m. CT
G9: If necessary | 4 p.m. CT
