#7 National Seed

Knoxville Regional

2026 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament · Regional Round

#7 Seed·Knoxville Regional·Final

Pickens Closes Knoxville With A 5-1 Gem

Winner

Tennessee

CHALK · CALLED IT

Chalk in Knoxville. Tennessee swept 3-0 — 3-1 over Northern Kentucky, 7-5 over Virginia, 5-1 over Virginia in the title. Pickens went the distance in the championship, holding Macee Eaton to one hit. The wobble came in the winners' bracket game when Virginia clawed back to 6-5, but Pickens slammed the door before it cracked.

TennesseeFAVORITE

BatGabby Leach — .410 BA early

CircleKarlyn Pickens — 13-7, 1.44 ERA, world-record velo

VirginiaTHREAT

BatMacee Eaton — .447 BA, 60 RBI

CircleEden Bigham — 14-4

D1 Softball Top 100; lost ACC quarters 3-1.

IndianaDARK HORSE

CircleElla Troutt — 2.80 ERA, 110 IP

5-game win streak entering Big Ten Tournament.

Northern KentuckyEASY OUT

Second Horizon League title in program history.

X-Factor

The winners' bracket dogfight. Tennessee scored 5 in the 1st, Virginia chipped it to 6-5 in the 6th, but Mardjetko got the win and Pickens closed it out for the save. Eaton finished the weekend 2-for-15.

National Seed

Host

Tennessee

City

Knoxville, TN

Dates

May 15-17, 2026

Format

4-team double-elim

Bracket

Friday's first-round matchups

Game 1 — Fri 5:30 PM ET

Final

Tennessee

Northern Kentucky

Game 2 — Fri 8:00 PM ET

Final

Virginia

Indiana

Winners meet Saturday at 3:00 PM ET. Losers play an elimination game at 5:30 PM ET. Regional championship Sunday at 2:00 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	5:30 PM ET	Northern Ky. at Tennessee	Tennessee3–1	ESPN+
Game 2	Fri, May 15	8:00 PM ET	Indiana at Virginia	Virginia8–7	ESPN+
Game 3	Sat, May 16	5:30 PM ET	Northern Ky. at Indiana	Indiana8–0	ESPN+
Game 4	Sat, May 16	3:00 PM ET	Virginia at Tennessee	Tennessee7–5	ESPN+
Game 5	Sat, May 16	8:00 PM ET	Virginia at Indiana	Virginia9–7	ESPN+
Game 6	Sun, May 17	2:00 PM ET	Tennessee at Virginia	Tennessee5–1	ESPN2
Game 7	Sun, May 17	2:30 PM ET	Regional Championship (if necessary)	—	ESPN2

Path Forward

Super Regional pairing

The Knoxville Regional winner advances to face the winner of the Athens Regional (#7 vs #10) in the Super Regional round May 21-24, hosted at the higher national seed (Tennessee). 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

Tennessee

Tennessee hosts the Knoxville Regional in Knoxville, TN as the #7 national seed of the 2026 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament. Hosting rights are awarded to the top 16 seeds, and the Tennessee program earned its bid on the strength of its regular-season resume.

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