Softball On SI

College Softball Weekly Trending Report

Who’s hot, who’s heating up, and who needs a reset – Feb. 16, 2026
Maren Angus-Coombs|
Alabama pitcher Vic Moten delivers a pitch to the plate during the game against Purdue at Rhoads Stadium in the East Bama Bash.
Alabama pitcher Vic Moten delivers a pitch to the plate during the game against Purdue at Rhoads Stadium in the East Bama Bash. | Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

NCAA Division I softball's second weekend was another stunner.

Upsets, offense and fresh pitching talent captivated the softball audience. It was also the first group of games televised on ESPN for a national audience.

Every Monday throughout the season, Softball On SI will publish a weekly trending report. Here is who is hot, heating up, cooling, and ice cold after two weeks of play.

Hot

Alabama Crimson Tide (9-0)

The Alabama Crimson Tide continued its hot start and ran through the field at the 2026 Easton Bama Bash. In four games against Purdue and Liberty, Alabama outscored its opponents 32-3 and pitched three complete-game shutouts.

Freshman pitcher Vic Moten is emerging a breakout star for the Crimson Tide. She improved to 5-0 and her earned run average is 0.58.

Florida Gators (12-0)

The Florida Gators hosted a midweek doubleheader against Jacksonville and outscored the Dolphins 31-1 in 10 innings. Over the weekend, the Gators went 5-0 at the Florida Classic with two wins against Marshall and Georgia Tech, and one more win over FIU.

Keagan Rothrock improved to 5-0 with 43 strikeouts across 31.0 innings.

Tennessee Lady Vols (10-0)

Tennessee rose to the top of the Softball America Top 25 Rankings on Monday after going 5-0 at the Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational. The Lady Vols were the only team to go undefeated and had wins over four ranked teams.

The pitching staff only allowed two runs. Karlyn Pickens and Erin Nuwer have yet to allow a run to score this season and are a combined 8-0 with four complete games.

Oklahoma Sooners (8-1)

The Oklahoma Sooners rebounded from a loss at Arizona and steamrolled their competition in Las Cruces, N.M., and El Paso, Texas.

The Sooners scored 91 runs in five games, including a 34-0 route of UTEP. The Sooner offense is hitting .462 with 38 home runs, 124 RBIs and 125 runs in nine games this season. 

Kasidi Pickering hit .833 (10-for-12) with 13 runs, 11 RBIs, three home runs, six walks and a 1.833 slugging percentage in the five contests.

Heating Up

Nebraska Cornhuskers (6-4)

The only team to have beaten two No. 1-ranked opponents resides in Lincoln, Neb. The Cornhuskers followed up opening weekend's split with then-ranked No. 1 Texas with an upset of Texas Tech.

Nebraska went 3-2 at the Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational with wins over then-No. 12 LSU, No. 1 Texas Tech, and UCF. The two losses were to then-No. 20 Georgia and No. 3 Tennessee.

Freshman pitcher Alexis Jensen appeared in four games over the weekend, all against ranked opponents. She didn't allow a run against the Tigers or Lady Vols and earned the win against the Red Raiders. Against UGA, she was handed the loss after allowing three runs on four hits.

Georgia Bulldogs (9-2)

The Georgia Bulldogs had a superb showing in Clearwater, going 5-1 and winning their final five games against Nebraska, NC State, UCF, Northwestern and Duke.

Sarah Gordon went 12-for-18 in the six games with six doubles, one triple, two home runs, nine runs scored, and 10 RBIs.

Lauren Putz, Michigan Wolverines (8-2)

Lauren Putz was named the Big Ten Player of the Week after going 9-for-15 (.600) with a 2.067 slugging percentage and .648 on-base percentage to lead Michigan at last weekend's Houston-HCU Invitational. 

The sophomore hit five home runs over the final three games of the weekend and leads the nation with nine total homers through 10 games. 

Omaha Mavericks (9-0)

The Omaha Mavericks are off to their best start in DI program history and are an 11-game regular-season winning streak that dates back to last season.

The Mavericks are one of only eight Division I squads to be undefeated through the first two weeks of the 2026 campaign, and one of three mid-majors to remain unbeaten.

In five games at the USD/UC San Diego Tournament, Omaha outscored its opponents 43-4.

Cooling Off

UCLA Bruins (7-3)

After a blazing hot start to the season, the UCLA Bruins ran into a buzzsaw in Clearwater and finished the weekend 2-3 with wins over Missouri and LSU.

The Bruins lost in extra innings to Oklahoma State before getting run-ruled by Tennessee. They also lost to Florida State.

Virginia Tech Hokies (7-2)

The Queen City Classic was not welcoming for the Virginia Tech Hokies. After opening the weekend with a win over Villanova, the Hokies lost to Michigan State. The loss to the Spartans was followed up another win over Villanova and the weekend ended with a loss to Charlotte.

Sunday's finale against the Spartans was cancelled due to inclement weather.

LSU Tigers (7-4)

While the LSU Tigers didn't fall out of the Top 25, LSU went 1-4 in Clearwater. The lone win was against Oklahoma State.

The Tigers were shutout by Nebraska and UCLA to open and close the tournament.

FAU Owls (6-4)

Florida Atlantic entered the weekend ranked in the Top 25 and was blown away, winning only one of five contests in Clearwater.

The Owls were shutout in three contests and the lone victory was against James Madison, 13-2.

Cold

Stanford Softball Stadium

The new Stanford Softball Stadium opened ahead of opening weekend and it seemed to go off without a hitch.

Until, the university released a statement on Thursday moving the second weekend to nearby schools because it didn't secure a temporary occupancy permit from the county.

Binghamton Bearcats (1-8)

After winning the America East and appearing in the NCAA Tournament, the Binghamton Bearcats are off to a horrible start.

The Bearcats have tested themselves playing seven Power 4 opponents in seven of their nine games.

However, since winning the first game of the season, Binghamton has lost eight in a row.

Villanova Wildcats (0-10)

It has been a rough start for Villanova, and the second weekend didn't see much improvement. The Wildcats lost to Virginia Tech twice and to Charlotte and Michigan State once at the Charlotte Invitational.

Villanova has been shut out in five contests this season.

Stony Brook Wolves (0-10)

Stony Brook was outscored 35-8 in five games at the Jacksonville/North Florida Invitational, losing twice to Princeton and UNF while dropping one to Jacksonville.

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Maren Angus-Coombs
MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS

Maren Angus-Coombs was born in Los Angeles and raised in Nashville, Tenn. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and has been a sports writer since 2008. She has been covering college softball since 2016 for various outlets including Softball America, ESPNW and Hurrdat Sports. She is currently the managing editor of Softball On SI and also serves as an analyst for Nebraska softball games on Nebraska Public Media and B1G+.

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