Road to WCWS: Arizona softball headed to Durham Regional

Arizona first baseman Kez Lucas fields the ball against ASU in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Softball Tournament on May 7, 2026 | Photo courtesy of the Big 12 Conference

The Arizona Wildcats are headed for their 38th NCAA postseason out of the last 39 that have been held. Unlike last season, it won’t be at home. UA has been sent to the Durham Regional to face a field of Duke, Howard, and Marshall.

Arizona will start their postseason against Marshall on Friday, May 15 at 11:30 a.m. MST on ESPN+.

The NCAA is seeding the top 32 teams this season for the first time. While only the top 16 host regionals, the rest of the seeds are assigned in a manner that tries to keep the top seeds from having tougher fields than those seeded behind them.

Arizona received one of the top 32 seeds, landing between 21 and 24. ASU overtook them for the third-best seed from the Big 12 with the conference tournament win.

Arizona had a good chance to host regionals well into the season, but the results of over the last five weeks fell short. The Wildcats dropped series at LSU and Oklahoma State that were understandable but not helpful. A home win against last-place Houston didn’t mean a lot beyond sending their seniors out on a high note. Then came a very disappointing series loss at Utah that dropped them to third in the Big 12.

That set up a Big 12 Tournament matchup against Arizona State. Arizona squandered its opportunities and got sent home in the opening round despite a strong performance by starting pitcher Jalen Adams.

Arizona might prefer to be on the road in regionals based on recent history. In 2024, the Wildcats dismissed Arkansas in its home regional to advance to super regionals. In 2022, they got all the way to the Women’s College World Series on the road by first getting out of the Columbia Regional and then getting past Mississippi State in the Starkville Super Regional.