5 Early Impressions as Big 12 College Softball Teams Begin Fall Ball

OSU Athletics

It’s been a long four months since the 2025 college softball season ended. Thankfully, fall softball is in full swing throughout October and November, giving fans a glimpse of what to expect in the 2026 season. 

Rosters are being rebuilt with the incoming freshmen and transfers, new coaches have entered the scene, and goals of making it to Oklahoma City have been set in stone. 

It all begins in the fall. 

Here are five early impressions of some of the hottest teams in the Big 12 right now. 

Texas Tech Red Raiders  

As runners-up in the 2025 Women’s College World Series (WCWS), the Red Raiders have assembled a talent-filled roster with seven transfers around ace NiJaree Canady, who heads into her senior year. They are stopping at nothing to grab their first national title in program history in 2026.

This fall’s slate features nine intrasquad scrimmages and two games against West Texas A&M and Odessa. 

In the 10-inning game against West Texas A&M, the Red Raiders scored in every inning, taking down the Buffs 29-5.

Texas Tech Athletics

The Odessa game went even better, with Texas Tech closing the door 15-0.

Kaitlyn Terry threw five innings, allowing just one walk and striking out 10 batters. Samantha Lincoln and Desirae Spearman combined for the final five innings. Lincoln had four strikeouts and allowed just two hits, while Spearman recorded five strikeouts and no hits or walks in a perfect two innings.

Logan Halleman and Hailey Toney went 3-for-5 with an RBI. Lauren Allred went 3-for-4 with a pair of singles and a triple while driving in three runs. Terry was also strong at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs on a single and a double.

Arizona Wildcats

With 10 players leaving after an upsetting loss to Ole Miss at home in the Tucson Regional of the NCAA Tournament, Caitlin Lowe and her staff hit the transfer portal hard to make replacements for starters Dakota Kennedy and Kaiah Altymeyer.

With Jalen Adams (Iowa), Grace Jenkins (UConn), Sereniti Trice (Iowa State), Addison Duke (Ole Miss), Jenae Berry (Indiana), and four freshmen joining the lineup, the Wildcats are preparing for a much larger goal in 2026. Not to mention, they return nine players from last year, including All-American Sydney Stewart and All-Big 12 players Regan Shockey and Jenna Sniffen.

This fall, the Wildcats will play six home games and a scrimmage at Grand Canyon. They opened with a Red-Blue scrimmage against each other, and will go on to host Benedictine University Mesa, Central Arizona, Chandler-Gilbert, Pima, and Phoenix College throughout October and early November. 

Oklahoma State Cowgirls 

Coming off their ninth consecutive NCAA tournament berth, the 2026 Cowgirls welcome 12 newcomers, eight freshmen and four transfers, while the lineup will feature standout returners like NFCA All-American pitcher Ruby Meylan, and NFCA All-Region honorees Rosie Davis and Amanda Hasler. 

 Featuring six home exhibition games and one away game, the Cowgirls have already had an interesting opening to their fall season. 

The team fell in its opening game 7-1 to the USA Softball U-18 team and 5-3 against Arkansas. They took their first win 4-2 over McClennan and then rolled past USAO with a 9-0 shutout. 

In the USAO victory, Meylan tossed two innings of one-hit ball with four strikeouts to earn the victory. The Cowgirls scored three runs in the first inning to take an early lead that they would never lose. Amanda Hasler drove in two with a single up the middle, and Claire Timm added an RBI groundout.

Cruisin'.

Through five innings of action, Cowgirls maintain a 6⃣-0⃣ lead pic.twitter.com/S9osmDlWis

— OSU Cowgirl Softball (@cowgirlsb) October 8, 2025

OSU will now face Seminole State on Oct. 14 before hitting the road to play Wichita State on Oct.16. They will finish out the fall play against Garden City CC on Oct. 22. 

Iowa State Cyclones 

Iowa State put up its best conference performance in its 30 years as a member of the Big 12, finishing third in 2025. After losing 11 players from its 2024 roster, eight freshmen and two transfers helped lead the Cylones to grab their third 30-plus win season under Jamie Pinkerton. 

In 2026, the chase to climb higher in the Big 12 standings and make a postseason run is on. Pitcher Ava Mullen joins from East Lansing, infielder Kadence Shepherd joins from Missouri, and five new freshmen bolster the lineup. 

The Cyclone’s fall schedule featured eight games, four of which were held at home. The season began against DMACC, Kirkwood, and Iowa Central. They faced Drake, UNI, and Iowa at the annual Big Four Classic tournament.

Iowa State Athletics

Iowa State concluded the fall season on away trips to Minneapolis to face North Dakota State and Minnesota.

UCF Knights 

The Knights finished the 2025 season with a 35-24 overall record, earning the program’s fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament bid and the 12th in program history on They advanced to an NCAA Regional Final for the first time since 2022 and marked the fourth 35-win season in the last five years under head coach Cindy Ball-Malone.

With three transfers, Kalista Birkenstock (FGCU), Carly Jo Penner (Kent State), and Zoe Calvez (LSU), and eight freshmen joining, the new talent will look to take UCF to its first-ever WCWS. 

The Knights kicked off the fall season against Stetson Hatters and returned home to face St. John’s River State College. They’ll face Seminole State College on Oct.17 before facing the Florida Gators on Oct. 19 and Florida Tech on Oct. 24. 

UCF Athletics

They’ll finish fall play against Pensacola State College on Nov.1, Jacksonville on Nov.2, and Eastern Florida State College on Nov. 8. 

UCF will also host a three-game Knights vs. ‘Nauts series Nov.19-21, where the roster scrimmages against each other.