Ohio State Announces 2026 Softball Schedule
12/12/2025 7:21:00 AM | Softball
Buckeyes will play 21 games at home, beginning on March 6
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State unveiled its 56-game regular season softball schedule on Friday. The slate includes 22 home games and 19 contests against teams that participated in last year's NCAA Tournament.
The 2026 regular season begins on Feb. 6 in Boca Raton, Fla. and the Buckeyes will play at home for the first time on March 6 when it hosts a three-game Big Ten-opening series against Iowa. Like last season, Ohio State will also host an in-season tournament – March 20-22 – and in total has four weekend conference series at home. The Big Ten Tournament is May 6-9 in College Park, Md.
Ticket Information
Single game and group tickets are set to go on sale on Tuesday, January 27 at 10 a.m. Pricing information will be publicized closer to the on sale date. Premier pricing will be in place for a select number of home games this season. Further softball ticket information can be found HERE.
Seating at Buckeye Field will include both General Admission and Reserved (NEW in 2026!) seating. A limited number of student tickets will be available for free at each game with a BuckID on a first come, first serve basis. Children under two years old and younger will be admitted free but must sit on an adult's lap.
Group tickets and experiences will also be available for purchase. For fans interested in learning more please fill out the Ticket Interest form HERE in order to have a member of our sales team contact you directly about bringing your group (10+) out to a game this season!
Contact the Ohio State Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800-GOBUCKS or Athletic.tix@osu.edu for more information on ticket information. Single Game tickets will be available for purchase HERE on January 27.
Breaking Down the 2026 Schedule
Ohio State will spend the first four weekends of the season on the road. Highlights of its early-season trips include:
- A season-opening tournament at Florida Atlantic is Boca Raton, Fla. Last year FAU earned an at-large bid the NCAA Tournament out of the American Conference.
- The second weekend of the season (Feb. 13-15) takes Ohio State to Austin, Texas where it will play the defending national champion Texas Longhorns twice.
- The Buckeyes have games versus Virginia (twice) and Liberty at the Mizuno Classic (Feb. 20-22) and four NCAA Tournament opponents at the Duke International (Feb. 27-March 1).
Ohio State returns north for its home-opener on March 6 vs. Iowa, which comes to Columbus for a three-game series. That series marks the beginning of a five-game homestand that includes non-conference games versus Western Michigan (March 10) and Akron (March 11). The Buckeyes then have a nine-game homestand to close the month, which includes an in-season tournament the weekend of March 20-22 that features Campbell, Louisville and Indiana State. In all, Ohio State plays 14 of its 19 games at home in the month on March.
In April, Ohio State has back-to-back Big Ten road trips to Minnesota (April 3-5) and Michigan (April 10-12) before hosting Pitt (April 15) and Penn State (April 17-19). The month concludes with the Buckeyes' lone west coast trip of the season to Oregon (April 24-26).
The regular season concludes at home against Washington May 1-3. Maryland will host this year's Big Ten Tournament in College Park May 6-9. The NCAA Tournament selection show is slated for Sunday, May 10.
More Notes on the 2026 Schedule
- Five of Ohio State's nine conference opponents finished in the top half of conference standings in the 2025 season. Seven of the nine opponents finished with an overall record above .500.
- The home opener will come on March 6, the earliest date in program history. The previous earliest date came on March 8, 2001 in a double-header against Oakland.
- Ohio State's in-season tournament March 20-22 will include Louisville, Indiana State and Campbell. Games will be played at noon, 2:30 and 5 p.m. on March 20 and 21 and 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.
- The Big Ten will continue with its 12-team tournament format that features byes for the top four seeds and fourth first-round games on Thursday, May 6. The entire tournament will be broadcast on BTN.
