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

Creighton Athletics

It’s been a long four months since the 2025 college softball season ended. Thankfully, fall softball is in full swing throughout October, 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 East right now. 

St. John’s Red Storm 

Fresh off a record-breaking 2025 campaign, the Red Storm is ready to defend its Big East regular-season title. St. John's finished the year with a program record of 39 wins, with 19 Big East victories marking an all-time high. 

Jess Bianco, who set the St. John's single-season hit record with 74, is back in the lineup alongside seven other seniors. 

St. John’s began its fall schedule with a doubleheader against Iona and St. Thomas Aquinas at the end of September. Then, it will host Adelphi and Stony Brook before traveling to face Hofstra. The Red Storm closes out fall play against Rutgers in a 10-inning contest on Oct. 18.

UConn Huskies 

The Huskies are coming off a historic 2025 season that saw their fourth straight 30-win season, setting a new program record for runs scored, doubles, home runs, RBIs, batting average, walks, and total bases. 

As the No.3 seed, the Huskies headed to the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional, but fell to LSU in a 3-0 battle to close the season. 

Though losing two major pieces of their lineup to the transfer portal, sisters Hope and Grace Jenkins, nine newcomers join the squad in 2026 in hopes of taking the Huskies further in the postseason. 

UConn Athletics

The team opened its fall slate with two home games against Post University and Franklin Pierce. 

They traveled to Fairfield and Bridgeport before returning home to face big competition against Boston College and Eastern Connecticut State. They closed out fall play against Quinnipiac. 

Villanova Wildcats 

For the first time under head coach Bridget Orchard, the Wildcats failed to reach the Big East Championship Tournament final in 2025. With a 27-26-1 record, they fell to Butler in a 13-10 slugfest.

This fall, with the addition of five new freshmen, Maggie Kin, Jacquelyn Cox, Aubrey Polic, Katie Reed, and Carly Zych, Villanova will look to bring back the season they compiled in 2024. That season, the Wildcats stormed through the Big East tournament to grab the title. 

Villanova Athletics

They opened their fall slate with two days of intersquad scrimmages before facing live action against Binghamton, Long Island, East Stroudsburg, and Saint Joseph’s. 

They closed out fall play with a doubleheader against Monmouth and Rutgers. 

Creighton Bluejays

On a brand new state-of-the-art field, the Bluejays are back to make more program history. They concluded the 2025 season with a 30-25 overall record, posting the program's first back-to-back 30-win seasons since 2009 and 2010. 

The team finished the season with a school-record 321 runs scored, while finishing with a .303 batting average, the fourth-best mark in a season in program history. 474 hits ranked second all-time in school history, while the 54 home runs were the most since 2012 and fourth most in a season in school history.

The Bluejays saw their season come to an early end, though, in the Big East Tournament Championship game when they fell to UConn 18-4. 

This fall, three transfers, Landrie Harris (McLennan), Tara Vanderwater (Oklahoma State), and Gracie Maloney (North Texas), joined in Omaha to bolster the roster. 

Creighton began fall play against Midland (NAIA), Iowa Western CC, NIACC, and Wayne State throughout September. The Bluejays closed out their eight-game slate against Butler CC, Bellevue, and DMACC. 

Butler Bulldogs

With seven starters returning from 2025’s roster, the Bulldogs are looking to improve on a season where they qualified for the Big East Tournament for the fifth-straight time. They fell to Providence 7-0 in the tournament to end with a 26-22 overall record and a 14-10 conference record. 

One transfer, right-handed pitcher Maren Berger, joins after one season at Texas Southern and one season at Utah State. 

Butler Athletics

The Bulldogs opened the fall season against Danville and Marian. After facing Earlham, they’ll close out the four-game slate against UIndy on Oct. 18.