MARSHALL, Texas – Hosting for the seventh year in a row, No. 6 East Texas Baptist University will have the NCAA Division III Regional Tournament back in Marshall. The tournament will take place from Thursday, May 14, through Saturday, May 16, at Bell Park at Taylor Field.
ETBU will host No.2 seed Rowan University (NJ), No. 3 seed University of St. Thomas, Houston (Texas), and the No. 4 seed Denison University (Ohio). ETBU will take on Denison on Thursday at 11:00 a.m.
ETBU is the overall No. 5-ranked program in the NCAA Division III National Tournament with a 37-4 record and a 64.440 NPI. They earned the automatic bid to the tournament, winning their fourth straight American Southwest Conference Tournament Championship on Saturday over the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, 8-0 in a six-inning run-rule. It was the program's 14th ASC Tournament Championship and ninth under head coach
Janae Shirley. ETBU is currently ranked No. 6 in the NFCA Poll.
This is the seventh time ETBU has hosted the NCAA Softball Regional, hosting in 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and now 2026. The Tigers are making their 18th NCAA Tournament. ETBU has played in three Super Regionals (2014, 2017, 2024), winning two, and participated in three NCAA Division III National Championship Tournaments, winning the National Championship in 2010 and 2024.
No. 17 Rowan earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Regional after winning its third New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championship in a row. Rowan defeated The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), 8-4, and has a NPI ranking of No. 26 at 59.510. They are No. 17 in the NFCA National Poll.
St. Thomas Houston earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Regional with a 30-10 record on the season. The Celts fell to Ozarks (Ark.), 6-4, in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) elimination game. St. Thomas is No. 44 in NPI with a 57.741. UST is receiving votes in the NFCA Poll.
Denison earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Regional after winning its first North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament Championship game since 2012. Denison defeated the NCAC's top seed, Wittenberg, 4-3 to secure its spot in the NCAA Tournament. Denison is No. 133 in the NPI with a 53.175. ETBU has faced off with Denison before in the Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga., defeating them 4-0 in March.
The Marshall, Texas, Regional will begin May 14th at 11:00 a.m.
Teams
#1 seed ETBU (37-4) – ASC Champion
#2 seed Rowan (36-8) – NJAC Champion
#3 seed St. Thomas (TX) (30-10) – At Large Bid
#4 Denison (20-19) – NCAC Champion
Thursday, May 14
11:00 AM Game 1 – #1 ETBU vs. #4 Denison
1:30 PM Game 2 – #2 Rowan vs. #3 St. Thomas
Friday, May 15
11:00 AM Game 3 – Winner Game 1 vs Winner Game 2
1:30 PM Game 4 – Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
4:00 PM Game 5 – Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3
Saturday, May 16
11:00 AM Game 6 – Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5
1:30 PM Game 7 – if necessary game
