Charleston Draws No. 3 Seed Georgia in Athens Regional
Dylan Smith
RICHMOND, Va. – Fresh off the program’s first CAA title, Charleston will head to the Athens Regional to face No. 3 seed Georgia in the opening round of the 2026 NCAA Softball Championship.
The Cougars will open play against the Bulldogs on Friday, May 15, with first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN+. No. 6 seed Clemson and UNC Greensboro will join the two programs to round out the four-team sectional.
Charleston became the first fifth-seeded program to win the CAA Tournament, taking down Hofstra with a 5-0 shutout on Saturday. The tournament’s Most Outstanding Player Mackenzie Mathis racked up 13 strikeouts in her two-hit, complete-game shutout. The Cougars allowed a combined three runs in their four wins through the conference championship.
The youngest NCAA Division I head coach, CofC’s Head Coach Maggie Mrowka, will lead her program to their first national tournament since 2005. The 26-year-old became just the third coach in league history to secure the CAA softball crown in their first season, joining Georgia State’s Roger Kinkaid (2011) and Hofstra’s Larissa Anderson (2015). The cardiac Cougars have also boasted nine walk-off wins this season, trailing only San Diego State (10) for the most in the nation.
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