#4 National Seed

Lincoln Regional

2026 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament · Regional Round

#4 Seed·Lincoln Regional·Final

Frahm Throws 3 Games, Allows 1 Run

Winner

Nebraska

CHALK · CALLED IT

Chalk in Lincoln — but on pitching, not power. Nebraska went 3-0 with just 7 runs scored and 1 allowed: 4-1 over South Dakota, 2-0 over Grand Canyon, 1-0 over Grand Canyon in the title. Frahm did everything: started, closed, and went the distance in the championship's 1-0 nailbiter.

NebraskaFAVORITE

BatJordy Frahm — .429 BA, 19 HR, .890 SLG

CircleJordy Frahm — 1.25 ERA, 193 K, 10 SV

LouisvilleTHREAT

5-seed in ACC Tournament; quarterfinal exit vs Stanford.

Grand CanyonDARK HORSE

Won both regular-season AND tournament titles in first Mountain West year.

South DakotaEASY OUT

CircleEvans — One-hit complete game in title clincher

First conference title in program history.

X-Factor

The 1-0 title game. Grand Canyon never trailed by more than one — and Frahm slammed the door in the 7th to send the Huskers to their first super regional in a decade.

National Seed

Host

Nebraska

City

Lincoln, NE

Dates

May 15-17, 2026

Format

4-team double-elim

Bracket

Friday's first-round matchups

Game 1 — Fri 6:30 PM ET

Final

Nebraska

South Dakota

Game 2 — Fri 4:00 PM ET

Final

Louisville

Grand Canyon

Winners meet Saturday at 1:00 PM ET. Losers play an elimination game at 3:30 PM ET. Regional championship Sunday at 3:00 PM ET, with an if-necessary game at 2:30 PM ET.

Schedule

All times Eastern

Game	Date	Time	Matchup	Result	TV
Game 1	Fri, May 15	6:30 PM ET	South Dakota at Nebraska	Nebraska4–1	ESPN+
Game 2	Fri, May 15	4:00 PM ET	Grand Canyon at Louisville	Grand Canyon5–1	ESPN+
Game 3	Sat, May 16	3:30 PM ET	Louisville at South Dakota	South Dakota4–2	ESPN+
Game 4	Sat, May 16	1:00 PM ET	Nebraska at Grand Canyon	Nebraska2–0	ESPN+
Game 5	Sat, May 16	6:00 PM ET	South Dakota at Grand Canyon	Grand Canyon5–4	ESPN+
Game 6	Sun, May 17	3:00 PM ET	Grand Canyon at Nebraska	Nebraska1–0	ESPN2
Game 7	Sun, May 17	2:30 PM ET	Regional Championship (if necessary)	—	ESPN2

Path Forward

Super Regional pairing

The Lincoln Regional winner advances to face the winner of the Stillwater Regional (#4 vs #13) in the Super Regional round May 21-24, hosted at the higher national seed (Nebraska). Super Regionals are best-of-three; the winner advances to the Women’s College World Series at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, May 28 - June 5.

About the Host

Nebraska

Nebraska hosts the Lincoln Regional in Lincoln, NE as the #4 national seed of the 2026 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament. Hosting rights are awarded to the top 16 seeds, and the Nebraska program earned its bid on the strength of its regular-season resume.

All games at this regional are played at the Nebraska home softball venue, with first pitch on Friday, May 15 and the championship round on Sunday, May 17.