BRACKET | CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL

The 2026 Ohio Valley Conference Softball Championship field is set. Eastern Illinois earned the regular season title and the No. 1 seed. UT Martin is the No. 2 seed while SIUE earned the third seed. Lindenwood is the fourth seed followed by Southeast Missouri, Southern Indiana, Tennessee Tech and Western Illinois.

EIU enters as the No. 1 seed for the third straight year after winning its third consecutive OVC regular season championship.   EIU won last year's OVC Tournament to secure the Panthers second-ever NCAA Tournament bid.  
 
The event will be held May 6-9 at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria, Illinois. This marks the third time the Championship will be held at the neutral site.
 
The entire championship will be streamed on ESPN+.

2026 OVC Softball Championship Schedule
 
Wednesday, May 6
*Game 1: #6 Southern Indiana vs. #7 Tennessee Tech, 10:00 a.m. (ESPN+)
*Game 2: #5 Southeast Missouri vs. #8 Western Illinois, 12:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Game 3: #3 SIUE vs. Winner Game 1, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Game 4: #4 Lindenwood vs. Winner Game 2, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Thursday, May 7
Game 5: #2 UT Martin vs. Winner Game 3, 10:00 a.m. (ESPN+)
Game 6: #1 Eastern Illinois vs. Winner Game 4, 12:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Game 7: Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 4, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Game 8: Loser Game 6 vs. Loser Game 3, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Friday, May 8
Game 9: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 11:00 a.m. (ESPN+)
Game 10: Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 5, 1:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Game 11: Loser Game 10 vs. Winner Game 9, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+)

Saturday, May 9
Game 12: Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 11, 11:00 a.m. (ESPN+)
Game 13: IF NECESSARY, 30 Minutes After (ESPN+)

*Please note Games 1 and 2 are single elimination
ALL TIMES CENTRAL