2026 AAC Softball Tournament
The tournament begins Monday, April 27, and runs through Friday, May 1. The five-day event is being held at the Brickyard Ball Fields in Kingsport, Tenn. (Directions)
Tickets are available and can be purchased by clicking here.
If unable to attend in person, all games will be streamed live online. To watch, click here.
Johnson and Reinhardt are the regular-season co-champions as both finished with a 19-7 conference record. Johnson receives the No. 1 seed since it swept the season series against Reinhardt. The AAC has two automatic berths to the NAIA National Championship Tournament, and Johnson receives one as the regular-season champion and No. 1 seed. The final automatic berth will be awarded to the tournament champion. If Johnson wins the tournament, the second automatic berth will go to the tournament runner-up.
Ten teams advance to the double-elimination tournament. To view the bracket, click here.
Here are the seeds for the tournament:
- Johnson (29-16, 19-7 AAC)*
- Reinhardt (23-9, 19-7 AAC)*
- Brenau (27-15, 18-8 AAC)
- Bryan (26-22, 16-10 AAC)
- Pikeville (27-13, 15-11 AAC)**
- Truett McConnell (26-17, 15-11 AAC)**
- Milligan (20-20, 14-12 AAC)***
- Columbia International (31-15, 14-12 AAC)***
- Spartanburg Methodist (29-16, 12-14 AAC)
- Columbia (23-23, 9-17 AAC)****
*-Johnson and Reinhardt tied for the regular-season championship, but Johnson swept the season series from Reinhardt to earn the No. 1 seed.
**-Pikeville swept the season series from Truett McConnell to earn the No. 5 seed.
***-Milligan and Columbia International split their season series and scored the same number of runs (7) against each other. However, Milligan went 2-0 against Johnson, while Columbia International went 0-2 to earn the No. 7 seed.
****-Columbia and Union Commonwealth tied for the No. 10 seed, but Columbia swept the season series to earn the postseason berth.
Here's the complete tournament schedule:
Tournament Schedule
Monday, April 27
Game 1 - No. 8 Columbia International (32-15) def. No. 9 Spartanburg Methodist (29-17), 10-5 (box)
Game 2 - No. 7 Milligan (21-20) def. No. 10 Columbia (23-24), 9-1 (box)
Game 3 - No. 4 Bryan (27-22) vs. No. 5 Pikeville (27-14), 9-1 (box)
Game 4 - No. 6 Truett McConnell (27-17) def. No. 3 Brenau (27-16), 12-7 (box)
Tuesday, April 28
Game 5 - No. 5 Pikeville (28-14) def. No. 10 Columbia (23-25), 5-0 (box) - Columbia eliminated
Game 6 - No. 3 Brenau (28-16) def. No. 9 Spartanburg Methodist (29-18), vs., 8-0 (6 innings) (box) - Spartanburg Methodist eliminated
Game 7 - No. 1 Johnson (30-16) def. No. 8 Columbia International (32-16), 6-5 (12 innings) (box)
Game 8 - No. 7 Milligan (22-20) def. No. 2 Reinhardt (23-10), 6-3 (box)
Wednesday, April 29
Game 9 - No. 5 Pikeville (29-14) vs. No. 8 Columbia International (32-17), 5-3 (box) - Columbia International eliminated
Game 10 - No. 2 Reinhardt (24-10) def. No. 3 Brenau (28-17), 7-6 (box) - Brenau eliminated
Game 11 - No. 4 Bryan (28-22) def. No. 1 Johnson (30-17), 6-0 (box)
Game 12 - No. 6 Truett McConnell (28-17) def. No. 7 Milligan (22-21), 8-0 (5 innings) (box)
Thursday, April 30
Game 13 - No. 1 Johnson (31-17) def. No. 5 Pikeville (29-15), 4-3 (9 innings) (box) - Pikeville eliminated
Game 14 - No. 2 Reinhardt (25-10) def. No. 7 Milligan (22-22), 11-8 (box) - Milligan eliminated
Game 15 - No. 6 Truett McConnell (29-17) def. No. 4 Bryan (28-22), 3-2 (8 innings) (box)
Game 16 - No. 2 Reinhardt (26-10) def. No. 1 Johnson (31-17), 5-3 (box) - Johnson eliminated
Friday, May 1
Game 17 - No. 2 Reinhardt (27-10) def. No. 4 Bryan (28-23), 8-0 (5 innings) (box) - Bryan eliminated
Game 18 - Championship Game 1 - No. 6 Truett McConnell (30-17) def. No. 2 Reinhardt (27-11), 3-0 (box) - Truett McConnell wins the championship