The Arizona Wildcats had a very favorable schedule in its first season as a member of the Big 12. That means the softball schedule for year two won’t be quite as friendly.
The conference released the 2026
slate on Thursday afternoon. Arizona will play four home series and four road series. With 11 teams in the league, that means the Wildcats will miss two conference opponents every year. This season, UA will not face UCF or Kansas.
The Wildcats will also play most of their toughest series on the road. Last year, they played both Texas Tech and Oklahoma at home. The Red Raiders won the league, as expected. The Cowgirls did not have the season they expected but were perceived as one of the top teams heading into the year.
All games will be played Friday through Sunday except the series against BYU and the series held Easter weekend. Both of those series run from Thursday through Saturday.
Conference play will start for head coach Caitlin Lowe and her squad the weekend of Mar. 5-7 when BYU comes to Tucson. The Cougars went 32-17 last year and finished sixth in the league standings at 13-11. Arizona won the series 2-1 in Provo, UT.
The Wildcats’ second Big 12 series will be in Lubbock against Women’s College World Series runner-up Texas Tech from Friday, Mar. 13 through Sunday, Mar. 15. The Red Raiders return top pitcher NiJaree Canady and add another haul from the portal. They went 54-14 overall last year, including 20-4 in the conference. They won both the regular season and tournament titles and beat Arizona 2-1 in the series held in Tucson.
The third week of the conference season features Arizona State in Tucson between Mar. 20-22. The Sun Devils’ roster includes former Wildcats Aissa Silva and Emily Schepp.
The Sun Devils made a return to the NCAA postseason last year where they bowed out in the UCLA regional. They finished with a 35-21 record, including 14-10 in the Big 12. Arizona took the series in Tempe 2-1.
The Wildcats stay home the weekend of Mar. 27-29 to host Baylor. It will be the first time the two programs meet as members of the same conference after they missed each other in the schedule rotation last year.
The Bears went 27-27 overall and 11-13 in league play last year. They finished eighth in the regular season and missed the NCAA tournament.
The second half of Big 12 play starts at Iowa State where Arizona travels for the Apr. 2-4 series, which is the second series to have a Thursday-Saturday schedule. The two teams met in the semifinals of the Big 12 Softball Tournament last year, but they were not matched up in the regular season. The Wildcats fell behind the Cyclones but came roaring back for a 6-3 victory to advance to the final.
Iowa State had a 31-23 overall record and 15-9 conference record last year to finish third in the regular season standings. However, the Cyclones missed the top two teams in the league during the regular season and the schedule was deemed too weak for a tournament berth by the NCAA selection committee.
The series will feature the return of former Cyclone Sereniti Trice to Ames, where she spent her freshman season. It’s the second straight year the Wildcats have added an ISU transfer. Last year it was pitcher Saya Swain.
Arizona’s conference bye week follows the ISU trip. The week after that, they travel to Oklahoma State for an Apr. 17-19 series. The Cowgirls played a tough nonconference schedule last year and didn’t bounce back in conference play. They also had two conference games cancelled due to fires in the Stillwater area. However, their 35-20 overall and 13-9 conference records were enough to earn them a berth in the NCAA postseason. That record included a 1-2 series loss in Tucson. They finished fourth in the conference standings.
Houston comes to Tucson Apr. 24-26 for Arizona’s final home series. Arizona swept the other Cougars in Houston last season. UH finished last in the league with a 4-18 conference record. It was 22-25 overall before making a coaching change in the offseason.
The Wildcats will wind up the regular season with a trip to Salt Lake City to face Utah. The Utes were not far ahead of Houston last season with a 5-19 Big 12 record. They were 13-40 overall. Arizona swept the series at Hillenbrand.
The postseason begins exactly where Arizona hopes it ends. The Big 12 will once again hold its conference tournament at OGE Field at Devon Park in Oklahoma City. The event runs from May 7-9.
The Wildcats’ nonconference schedule as well as TV times will be released at a later date.
Arizona finished second in both the Big 12 regular standings and the conference tournament last year. Their 48-13 overall schedule and 17-7 league record earned the Wildcats their first regional hosting rights since 2019. However, they fell to Ole Miss at Hillenbrand. Ole Miss knocked out Arkansas in super regionals to advance to its first WCWS.
Arizona will feature a team with a lot of new faces this season after numerous comings and goings in the offseason. Junior centerfielder Regan Shockey and senior catcher Sydney Stewart return to lead the new group into its second Big 12 season. Other returners who figure to play a big part are shortstop Tayler Biehl, catcher/utility player Emma Kavanagh, and third baseman Jenna Sniffen.
The Wildcats brought in a transfer class ranked sixth by 643 Charts according to WAR. The group is headlined by pitcher Jalen Adams, C/UTIL Grace Jenkins, and Trice. All three should be forces for Arizona as they battle for an elusive conference title.
The group is currently gearing up with a slate of fall games. They played their inaugural Red-Blue intrasquad game on Oct. 10. A doubleheader against NAIA Benedictine University – Mesa and Chandler-Gilbert Community College followed on Oct. 17. The next doubleheader will feature Central Arizona and Phoenix College on Friday, Oct. 24 at 5:15 p.m. MST, then they will travel to Grand Canyon on Nov. 1 for their only matchup against a Division I team this fall. It wraps up back at Hillenbrand against Pima on Nov. 7.
Freshman infielder Kezia Lucas, who suffered an ACL tear in the spring, has returned to light practice but she has not participated in competitive games this fall.
