Softball Announces 2026 Season Schedule
The Centenary softball program has announced its 2026 schedule as the Ladies will open their regular season on Saturday, Feb. 7 against Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss.
Shreveport - The Centenary softball program has announced its 2026 schedule as the Ladies will open their regular season on Saturday, Feb. 7 against Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss.
The Ladies and Majors will play a non-conference doubleheader at 1 and 3 PM at the Millsaps Softball Complex. Centenary is scheduled to play 38 regular-season games – 30 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contests and eight non-conference games. The Ladies are set for 17 home games and 21 road/neutral contests.
The Ladies will waste no time in jumping into league play as they play host to Schreiner University Feb. 13-14 at the Centenary Softball Complex and then finish the month with a three-game set at Concordia University from Feb. 28—March 1.
Centenary's other home conference opponents are Hendrix College, the University of Dallas, Texas Lutheran University, and McMurry University. The Ladies' other conference road trips take them to LeTourneau University, Austin College, the University of St. Thomas, and University of the Ozarks.
The Ladies will play in the Belhaven University Tournament Feb. 20-21 in Jackson, Miss., and face Howard Payne University in a non-conference DH on March 17 at home. Centenary's final home games will come against McMurry April 10-11 before finishing the season on the road against St. Thomas and Ozarks.
Whitney Patterson enters her fifth season as head coach in 2026 after leading the Ladies to a single-season program record 21 wins in 2025 and an appearance in the SCAC Tournament semifinals.
Centenary finished the 2025 season at 21-22 overall and 14-15 in SCAC play, and went 2-2 in the SCAC Tournament falling one game shy of advancing to the championship round. Centenary's 21 wins last season are the most in a single season in the D3 era and the 14 conference wins are also the most in a single season in the D3 era.
Centenary, the No. 6 seed in the conference tournament, rebounded from a 6-2 loss to the No. 3 seed Trinity University Tigers in their tournament opener to notch consecutive elimination-round victories over the No. 5 seed McMurry University War Hawks and a 5-3 win over Trinity before being eliminated by the nationally-ranked and No. 1 seed Texas Lutheran Bulldogs. The Ladies have now made nine-consecutive SCAC Tournament appearances.
Heather Ivey enters her fourth season with the Centenary softball program in 2026 and third as Assistant Coach after serving as the volunteer assistant for the Ladies in 2022. Ivey assisted head coach Whitney Patterson last season in leading the Ladies to a single-season program record 21 wins and an appearance in the SCAC Tournament semifinals. Ivey was chosen as Centenary Athletics' Assistant Coach of the Year at the annual end of season banquet in April.
Former Ladies' star Abby Touchet has joined the staff this season as a volunteer assistant. Touchet earned All-SCAC honors last season was one of the conference's top offensive players all season in her first with the Ladies after transferring from TLU. She ranked in the top 10 in the league in OBP, slugging, hits, RBI, doubles, home runs, total bases, BB, AB, and plate appearances.
The Ladies' roster features 15 returnees and five newcomers – four true freshmen and one transfer. The roster includes nine seniors, three juniors, four sophomores, and four freshmen.
The 2026 SCAC Softball Tournament will be held May 1-3 in Abilene, Texas and hosted by McMurry. The top six teams in the standings at the conclusion of the regular season qualify for the event.
See the complete Ladies' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/sball/2025-26/schedule
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