Softball Announces 2026 Schedule
12/3/2025 12:45:00 PM | Softball
Lions begin year on Feb. 13; home opener set for Mar. 18
NEW YORK – Columbia softball head coach Jennifer Teauge is pleased to announce the team's 2026 schedule. The Lions will play a 41-game regular season slate, which includes 10 home contests, as well as tournaments in North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and Texas.
Columbia's 2026 schedule features 12 opponents that competed in the postseason in 2025, including two teams that appeared in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
"We are thrilled to get year 27 underway with this Lion team," head coach Jennifer Teague said. "Our schedule offers a balanced set of challenges, and the opportunity to begin our season a week earlier should help us find our rhythm sooner, heading into Ivy play. Facing Brown, last year's Ivy champion, on opening Ivy Weekend will be a valuable early test. This is a veteran group, and they're ready to pick up right where we left off."
Columbia will begin its 2026 campaign on February 13 with a doubleheader against App State and UNC Greensboro as part of The Spiro Classic hosted by UNC Greensboro in Greensboro, N.C. The Lions will also take on Fairfield. A week later, the Lions will travel to Orlando, Fla., to participate in the Stetson Invitational, where they will take on Bradley, Stetson, and local rival St. John's.
The Lions wrap up February in Atlanta, where they will participate in their third tournament of the year, the MUSB Invitational II, hosted by Mercer. Columbia opens the tournament with a doubleheader against UAlbany and the tournament hosts. Columbia will also face Presbyterian.
After a week off, Columbia will play in its final tournament of the non-conference slate, participating in the Maverick Invitational hosted by UT Arlington. The Lions will play five games - three against South Dakota State and two against the hosts. That tournament begins on March 13.
The Lions wrap up their non-conference slate with back-to-back games in New York. First, they play Manhattan in Riverdale on March 17 before making their long-awaited 2026 home debut against LIU on March 18.
Conference play begins March 21 with Columbia taking on Brown in the first conference series. The Bears went on to win the Ivy League Tournament in 2025 and represented the conference in the NCAA Tournament. Columbia will host Princeton (March 28-29), Yale (April 11-12), and Harvard (May 2-3) for its home conference contests. The Lions will travel to Dartmouth, Cornell, and Penn in 2026.
Now in its fourth season, the Ivy League Tournament will be hosted by the top seed and will feature the top four teams at the end of the regular season. The tournament to determine the Ivy League's automatic qualifier in the NCAA Tournament will begin on Thursday, May 7 and wrap up on Saturday, May 9.
FOLLOWING THE LIONS
Stay up to date on all things Columbia Softball by following the Lions on X (@CULionsSoftball), Instagram (@culionssoftball) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaSoftball).
