Bowdoin to Host NESCAC Softball Championship This Weekend at Pickard Field

5/6/2026 | Softball

BRUNSWICK, Maine – Bowdoin College will serve as the host for the 2026 New England Small College Athletic Conference Softball Championship beginning Friday at Pickard Field.

Top-seeded Tufts will face No. 8 Wesleyan to kick off the tournament, which is a rematch of the 2025 championship game. No. 2 Middlebury faces No. 7 Bates in the second game on Friday. Four games are scheduled for Saturday, with the remaining quarterfinals between No. 4 Bowdoin and No. 5 Williams, and No. 3 Colby versus No. 6 Trinity and the semifinal games. The championship game is set for Sunday at 11 a.m.

All games throughout the weekend are free admission.

HOW TO WATCH

A live webcast of all games will be available at NESCAC.com on computers and mobile devices. The webcast can also be seen on Roku, AppleTV, and Amazon Fire devices. Search for NESCAC Network and download the channel. Click here for more information.

QUARTERFINAL PREVIEWS

No. 1 Tufts Jumbos (29-9, 14-4 NESCAC) vs. No. 8 Wesleyan Cardinals (18-17, 7-11 NESCAC)

• Tufts has earned the top seed in the NESCAC Championship all four years of the tournament’s current format and has been a No. 1 seed 21 times in program history.
• The Jumbos have played in three of the last four championship games, own 13 titles, and are the defending NESCAC Champions.
• Tufts is looking to reach at least 30 wins for the fourth time in five seasons.
• Wesleyan is the No. 8 seed for the second time in program history.
• The Cardinals were the NESCAC Runners-Up in last year’s tournament.
• The quarterfinal marks a rematch of the 2025 championship game, which the Jumbos won, 8-3.
• Tufts swept Wesleyan in the regular season, winning 3-2 and 11-6, in Middletown, Connecticut. The NESCAC Tournament series stands at 9-2 in favor of the Jumbos.

No. 2 Middlebury Panthers (30-8, 12-6 NESCAC) vs. No. 7 Bates Bobcats (17-18, 7-11 NESCAC)

• The Panthers are in the NESCAC Tournament for the fifth year in a row.
• Middlebury is the No. 2 seed for the second time in three years.
• The Panthers’ 30 wins are the most since the 2011 season, the same year Middlebury won the NESCAC title, and are tied for the most wins in program history.
• Middlebury enters the tournament having won four straight and six of its last seven games.
• The Bobcats qualified for the tournament for the third time in four years.
• Bates’s 17 wins in 2026 are the most since the 2018 campaign.
• Middlebury swept Bates in the regular season series, winning 1-0 and 7-3, at Middlebury. The quarterfinal marks the first time the teams will meet in the NESCAC Tournament.

No. 3 Colby Mules (25-10, 11-7 NESCAC) vs. No. 6 Trinity Bantams (20-16, 9-9 NESCAC)

• Colby is the No. 3 seed for the first time in the current tournament format.
• The Mules are making their sixth consecutive appearance in the championship.
• Colby started the season with a 10-1 record. The Mules’ 25 wins are the most in program history.
• Trinity has earned a spot in the NESCAC Tournament field for the third time in five years.
• The Bantams have reached the 20-win mark for the second time in three seasons.
• Colby and Trinity split the regular season series on April 26 in Hartford. The Mules won the opener, 6-4, and the Bantams were victorious in the nightcap, 4-3.
• The teams have met once in the NESCAC Tournament. The Bantams registered a 10-1 (6 inn.) win in the 2024 quarterfinal.

No. 4 Bowdoin Polar Bears (27-8, 11-7 NESCAC) vs. No. 5 Williams Ephs (22-16, 11-7)

• Bowdoin’s No. 4 seed is the highest the Polar Bears have been in the current tournament format.
• The Polar Bears, who enter the tournament having won seven of their last nine games, are in the NESCAC Tournament for the seventh consecutive season.
• Bowdoin’s 27 wins are the most since the 2018 season. The Polar Bears finished as the NESCAC Runners-Up that year.
• Williams has qualified for the NESCAC Tournament for the 23rd time in program history.
• The Ephs are the No. 5 seed for the first time. Williams strung together 11 straight wins from March 30 through the first game of a doubleheader split with Bowdoin, a 3-2 victory, on April 12. The Polar Bears won Game 2 of the doubleheader versus the Ephs, 6-4, to snap the Williams win streak.
• Williams has won two of the last three NESCAC titles and owns eight championships overall.
• The quarterfinal game marks the 13th meeting between Bowdoin and Williams in the NESCAC Tournament. The Polar Bears won last year’s quarterfinal matchup, 4-1 in nine innings.