The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Softball Reveals 2026 Schedule
1/3/2026 7:00:00 AM | Softball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB Softball is set to play 54 games across an 86-day season before postseason play, culminating in the American Conference Tournament in Greenville, N.C., for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Blazers play in four non-conference tournaments before 27 American contests. UAB will play eight midweek contests, including every week from week three through nine.
Head Coach Taylor Smartt built a strong strength of schedule, featuring 10 NCAA tournament teams last season, including four Super Regional teams and two teams from the Women's College World Series. The Blazers will take on five SEC schools, including Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss; plus, one ACC school, Georgia Tech. Nine of the Blazers' opponents finished 2025 in the NCAA RPI top-50 and 17 in the top-100.
SEASON SUMMARY
UAB opens the season in Hattiesburg, Miss., with five games at the Black & Gold Challenge. The Blazers start the weekend with the season-opener against Lipscomb on February 6. UAB will take on Southeast Missouri State, Louisiana Tech, and Southern Miss to fill out the Friday and Saturday slates before closing the weekend with Lipscomb.
The Blazers will take on Jacksonville State, South Alabama, and Western Michigan during weekend two in Mobile, Ala.
UAB will then return to Birmingham for its home opener, set for Feb. 18 against West Georgia at 4 p.m.
The midweek matchup against the Wolves will warm up Mary Bowers Field for a long weekend tournament from Feb. 20-22. The Blazers' first game of the weekend is against 2025 end-of-season No. 4 Tennessee at 7 p.m. UAB will then host Southern Illinois, Missouri State, and Mercer to close the weekend.
UAB makes a quick trip to Tuscaloosa on Feb. 24 to take on the Crimson Tide before heading to Columbia, S.C., for the final non-conference tournament. UAB will play a pair of games against both Marist and Queens, and one game against the hosts, South Carolina.
The Blazers head back to Mary Bowers Field to host Mississippi State at 5 p.m. on March 4. UAB then opens up American play against North Texas, hosting the Mean Green from March 6-8.
UAB takes on its only ACC opponent, Georgia Tech, in Atlanta on March 10 before heading to Wichita State from March 13-15. After the trip to Kansas, UAB will play a Wednesday midweek game at Mississippi State on March 18, completing the home-and-home with the Bulldogs.
The Charlotte 49ers will visit Mary Bowers Field from March 20-22 before UAB makes another midweek trip to Mississippi, taking on Ole Miss on March 25 at 5 p.m.
UAB will get a sneak peek of the American Tournament field with a three-game set at East Carolina from March 27-29. The Blazers then return home for a cross-town matchup against Samford to close out March.
April opens with a shifted weekend, hosting Memphis from Thursday to Saturday, April 2-4. After a season-long five-day break, the Blazers make the trip to Tulsa from April 10-12, visiting the Golden Hurricane.
UAB then begins a seven-game homestand, its longest of the season, hosting UTSA from April 17-19. Alabama visits Mary Bowers Field, completing another home-and-home with SEC opposition. The Blazers wrap the 2026 home slate with South Florida from April 24-26.
Smartt and the Blazers finish the 2026 regular season with a trip to Florida Atlantic, Smartt's first trip back to Boca Raton since her tenure as an associate head coach for the Owls from 2023-24.
The 2026 American Conference Championships will be held at East Carolina's Max R. Joyner Family Stadium. The winner of the tournament will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
All UAB home conference games will follow the same start time schedule. Weekday games are scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Saturday games are set for 1 p.m., and Sundays will see first pitch at 12 p.m. All non-conference home games will have varying start times.
SCHEDULE NOTES
The Blazers play in four non-conference tournaments before 27 American contests. UAB will play eight midweek contests, including every week from week three through nine.
Head Coach Taylor Smartt built a strong strength of schedule, featuring 10 NCAA tournament teams last season, including four Super Regional teams and two teams from the Women's College World Series. The Blazers will take on five SEC schools, including Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss; plus, one ACC school, Georgia Tech. Nine of the Blazers' opponents finished 2025 in the NCAA RPI top-50 and 17 in the top-100.
SEASON SUMMARY
UAB opens the season in Hattiesburg, Miss., with five games at the Black & Gold Challenge. The Blazers start the weekend with the season-opener against Lipscomb on February 6. UAB will take on Southeast Missouri State, Louisiana Tech, and Southern Miss to fill out the Friday and Saturday slates before closing the weekend with Lipscomb.
The Blazers will take on Jacksonville State, South Alabama, and Western Michigan during weekend two in Mobile, Ala.
UAB will then return to Birmingham for its home opener, set for Feb. 18 against West Georgia at 4 p.m.
The midweek matchup against the Wolves will warm up Mary Bowers Field for a long weekend tournament from Feb. 20-22. The Blazers' first game of the weekend is against 2025 end-of-season No. 4 Tennessee at 7 p.m. UAB will then host Southern Illinois, Missouri State, and Mercer to close the weekend.
UAB makes a quick trip to Tuscaloosa on Feb. 24 to take on the Crimson Tide before heading to Columbia, S.C., for the final non-conference tournament. UAB will play a pair of games against both Marist and Queens, and one game against the hosts, South Carolina.
The Blazers head back to Mary Bowers Field to host Mississippi State at 5 p.m. on March 4. UAB then opens up American play against North Texas, hosting the Mean Green from March 6-8.
UAB takes on its only ACC opponent, Georgia Tech, in Atlanta on March 10 before heading to Wichita State from March 13-15. After the trip to Kansas, UAB will play a Wednesday midweek game at Mississippi State on March 18, completing the home-and-home with the Bulldogs.
The Charlotte 49ers will visit Mary Bowers Field from March 20-22 before UAB makes another midweek trip to Mississippi, taking on Ole Miss on March 25 at 5 p.m.
UAB will get a sneak peek of the American Tournament field with a three-game set at East Carolina from March 27-29. The Blazers then return home for a cross-town matchup against Samford to close out March.
April opens with a shifted weekend, hosting Memphis from Thursday to Saturday, April 2-4. After a season-long five-day break, the Blazers make the trip to Tulsa from April 10-12, visiting the Golden Hurricane.
UAB then begins a seven-game homestand, its longest of the season, hosting UTSA from April 17-19. Alabama visits Mary Bowers Field, completing another home-and-home with SEC opposition. The Blazers wrap the 2026 home slate with South Florida from April 24-26.
Smartt and the Blazers finish the 2026 regular season with a trip to Florida Atlantic, Smartt's first trip back to Boca Raton since her tenure as an associate head coach for the Owls from 2023-24.
The 2026 American Conference Championships will be held at East Carolina's Max R. Joyner Family Stadium. The winner of the tournament will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
All UAB home conference games will follow the same start time schedule. Weekday games are scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Saturday games are set for 1 p.m., and Sundays will see first pitch at 12 p.m. All non-conference home games will have varying start times.
SCHEDULE NOTES
- The 2026 schedule features 10 teams from the 2025 NCAA Softball tournament, including four Super Regional squads and two Women's College World Series teams.
- The Blazers will travel to eight different states (Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia, Kansas, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Florida), the most since UAB played in 10 different states in 2018.
- UAB's average opponent end-of-season RPI is 104.3 with 34 total games against teams within the RPI top-100.
- UAB will meet with four different programs for the first time ever. UAB is set to kickoff all-time series against SEMO, Missouri State, Marist, and Queens.
- The 2026 schedule will see 14 repeat opponents from the 2025 schedule, including all nine conference opponents plus South Alabama, Alabama, Mississippi State, West Georgia, and Samford.
- After not meeting for three seasons, the only three complete seasons without a meeting, UAB will meet against Southern Miss for the first time since 2022. It will be the 74th all-time meeting between the programs. The Blazers have a four-game winning streak against the Golden Eagles, their longest active winning streak against a 2026 opponent.
- UAB heads to Columbia, S.C. for its first game against South Carolina in 8,778 days, the third largest gap between games against an opponent in UAB Softball history (Indiana State - 9,128; UIC - 9,045).
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