UW Softball Headed to Fayetteville, Set to Make 32nd Consecutive NCAA Regional Appearance
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - Coming off their run in the Big Ten tournament that ended in the quarterfinals round, the Washington Husky softball team will make its 32nd consecutive NCAA regional appearance. The Huskies are headed to the Fayetteville Regional at Arkansas, as this young Washington team looks to extend its 2026 season.
It’s been an exciting season for this year’s Husky softball team, as a young squad has had some exciting moments, but there were some series where clear growth was needed.
Early into the schedule, Washington walked off a Nebraska team that was ranked 9th in the country at the time and had two games against top-ranked Texas come down to the final innings in the UTSA Invitational.
During the thick of their regular season schedule, Washington went on a 20-game win streak, including 16-straight in the month of March. That run was snapped by Saint Mary’s on April 2nd, a big-time upset as the Huskies were ranked 14th in the nation at the time. Washington lost three of four on a trip down to California, including that original loss to Saint Mary’s, and couldn’t regain that dominant form from their streak before.
The Huskies swept Minnesota at home, but back-to-back sweeps at the hands of 18th-ranked Oregon and 7th-ranked UCLA saw Washington tumble towards the lower end of the Top 25 national rankings, and a series loss at Ohio State to close out the regular season firmly kicked them out of the Top 25.
Washington continued their undefeated run against Minnesota this year with a 4-2 victory over the Golden Gophers in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, but their conference tournament run ended in the next round with a 9-2 defeat to Indiana.
Washington Husky pitcher Morgan Reimer during the team’s April 26th, 2026, game against UCLA at Husky Softball Stadium. (Photos by Bryant Garduque for Circling Seattle Sports)
Morgan Reimer led the way for the Huskies in the circle, ranking 3rd in the Big Ten with 22 wins on the season, 7th best in ERA (2.86), and 9th best in the strikeout department (124).
Junior infielder Giselle Alvarez led the way for the purple and gold at the plate, starting all 54 games for Washington while batting .376 on the season with a 1.110 OPS, slamming 15 homers and stealing five bases.
Freshman outfielder Kaycie Burdick had a strong first season at the collegiate level, ranking second on the team in batting average (.375) while playing in all but two of the team’s games. Burdick added a .931 OPS and four stolen bases to her total on the season.
Alexis DeBoer’s sophomore season was an impressive one, ranking third on the team in batting average at .359 while posting an OPS of 1.221, starting every game the Huskies played so far this year. Her 18 home runs on the season led Washington, while her 122 total bases ranked second behind Alvarez.
Washington Husky sophomore first baseman Alexis DeBoer during the 2025-26 season at Husky Softball Stadium. (Photos by Bryant Garduque for Circling Seattle Sports)
Freshmen like Melody Acevedo and Ally Hetzel played key roles for the Huskies throughout the season, showing the potential for improvement Washington has over the next few seasons if it can keep this group together.
Get to know the opponents
The Arkansas Razorbacks, a No. 2 seed, finished the regular season with a 42-11 record and 15-9 in conference play, falling in the quarterfinals to the eventual tournament runner-up, Alabama. The Razorbacks took the series against Texas, which won the SEC Tournament over Alabama, to close out the regular season before beating Mississippi State in the second round, as Arkansas had an automatic bye past the first round.
The Razorbacks are led offensively by senior infielder Tianna Bell and freshman catcher/infielder Brinli Bain. In the circle, sophomore Payton Burnham and senior lefty Robyn Herron have paced the Razorbacks, so it’ll be interesting to see who pitches against Washington if the Huskies do well enough to meet them.
Washington has a favorable all-time head-to-head record against Arkansas, undefeated in the five times the two programs have met. The Huskies haven’t met the Razorbacks in four years, with their two most recent matchups coming in mid-February of 2022 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, when Washington won by scores of 10-5 and 8-0 (Run rule).
The Fordham Rams finished their regular season with a 27-26 record, 13-11 in conference play, and come into this regional on a four-game winning streak. The Rams won the Atlantic 10 tournament championship as the fourth seed, beating top-ranked Loyola Chicago twice and with wins over fifth-seed Saint Joseph’s and third-seed Dayton.
The Rams are led offensively by senior outfielder Neleh Nogay and freshman infielder Sadira Forcucci. In the circle, junior Olivia Simcoe has been the workhorse for Fordham and will have the daunting task of handling things against Arkansas to open this regional.
The Huskies hold an undefeated record against Fordham as well, winning the two matchups they’ve had against the Rams. The most recent contest against Fordham for Washington came on May 17th in 2019, the opening game of a regional in Seattle, as Gabbie Plain dazzled through seven innings in the circle. The other game came on February 24th in 2011, as the win improved the Huskies to 2-0 in the Cathedral City Classic (California) and marked their 10th win of the season, with Jenn Salling’s leadoff double in the fourth inning scoring the first run of the game. Both all-time wins over Fordham have ended 2-0 for the Huskies.
The South Florida Bulls finished the year with a record of 42-15, 21-6 in conference play, and beat East Carolina by a score of 5-1 to win back-to-back American Conference Tournament Championships. The Bulls closed the regular season on a 10-game winning streak, and their 2-0 record in the conference tournament puts their winning streak at 12 games.
Offensively, South Florida is led by junior utility player Alex Wilkes and freshman outfielder Toryn Fulton. Expect to see sophomore pitcher Anne Long get the ball against Washington, as she has posted a 21-5 record with a 1.62 ERA this season for the Bulls.
Washington holds a favorable all-time head-to-head record against South Florida as well, but it’s not undefeated, unlike its marks against Arkansas and Fordham. The Bulls took a 4-3 win over the Huskies on February 17th back in 2001, but Washington has taken the two most recent meetings, February 18th, 2007, and February 22nd, 2024. Three of the four meetings between the Huskies and Bulls have been decided by one run, with the only game that wasn’t being a 10-0 win for Washington in five innings.
Washington starts the Fayetteville Regional by playing South Florida on Friday, May 15th, with a time still to be announced. If they defeat the Bulls, they will square off against the winner of the Arkansas vs Fordham game on Saturday, May 16th, and that time is still to be announced.
In the scenario that Washington wins this regional and advances, they’ll be off to face the winner of the Durham Regional, which features (No. 3 seed) Duke, (No. 6 seed) Arizona, Marshall, and Howard. That Super Regional will be a three-game series lasting from May 21st through May 24th.
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