BGSU softball plays its first weekend series of the regular season this weekend, seeking the warm(er) weather at the “1868 Classic” in Hampton, Virginia. The season-opening series includes a double header on both Friday, Feb. 6, and Saturday, Feb. 7, one game each against Queens University and Hampton University. 

Queens (Feb. 6, 10:00 a.m., Feb. 7, 1:00 p.m.) 

Located on Queens Road in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Royals’ softball program was notified of its full reclassification to Division I status by the NCAA in June of 2025. A participant in the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN), they began their transition in July 2022 and are expected to become full Division I members in 2025. 

“Full eligibility” grants Queens the ability to compete in the NCAA Championships in 2026 and beyond. This is a lofty goal for the Royals’ softball program, whose chances of making the NCAA Tournament are limited to just the automatic bid the ASUN receives for winning its conference tournament. 

They couldn’t have competed in it, but got closest to the NCAA playoffs in 2024, their only D-I season with a winning record (29-26). Head coach Kella Armstrong led them to the 2024 ASUN Championship, where they won their only D-I conference tournament game in program history. 

Most recently, the Royals finished 16-36 overall with a 9-15 conference record, losing to Lipscomb as the final team in the ASUN tournament 11-3. The rest of the ASUN is not confident in a drastic improvement in 2026 and predicted them to finish 10th of 12 teams in the 2026 Preseason Coaches’ Poll. 

 Their best returning position player is outfielder Olivia Thornton, in her sophomore season after a fabulous start to her collegiate career. Thornton anchored the middle of Queens’ batting order last season with a .297 batting average and a team-high .892 OPS.  

Playing all 52 games for the Royals, the then-freshman also slashed a team-high 15 extra-base hits and committed just two errors in center and right field. She had no errors after Feb. 28, 2025, an active stretch of 44 games in a row with not one error (56 made plays since last error). 

If there is any question mark, it is in the pitchers’ circle. In 2025, Armstrong had four pitchers who logged innings, two who started 18 games, and two who made 19+ relief appearances.  

All four pitchers are gone to graduation or transfer, and the third-season head coach looks to fix their 6.18 team ERA with two freshmen, two redshirt freshmen (one a transfer), and a grad student transfer. 

The only pitcher who has logged collegiate innings is the transfer Lindsay Henson, who transferred from Drury University (Springfield, Missouri) to Marshall with a 1.23 ERA in her rookie campaign. In her next two seasons, she would pitch seven innings and allow nine earned runs, also taking 19 at-bats for a .158 batting average.  

Queens finished toward the bottom of the ASUN in both batting and pitching last season, with key losses in both areas starting this season. Their game against Bowling Green on Friday morning will be the first of their 2026 regular season and their first as a full member of the NCAA. 

Hampton (Feb. 6, 1:00 p.m., Feb. 7, 10:00 a.m.) 

Hampton University Softball is hosting both Bowling Green and Queens in their “1868 Classic”. A Historically Black College and University (HBCU), the namesake of the Hampton’s invitational is in commemoration of the year (1868) Union Brig. Gen. Samuel Chapman Armstrong founded the college to educate newly freed African Americans following the Civil War. 

A part of the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) since 2022, the softball team has struggled in recent years with 30 or more losses in each of its last four seasons. The last full season Hampton Softball had a winning record was in 2017, when they went 23-22. 

The Lady Pirates have 20 losses in three of their last four seasons and missed the fourth mark by just one loss in 2023. They additionally had all wins vacated in 2023 because of student-athlete academic violations, their season reading a final 0-31 with 15 wins stripped away. 

In four seasons since joining the CAA, Hampton is 66-136 overall with only 23 wins in 104 conference games. Their last season finished at 15-34 in the first season of head coach Cat Tarvin, a coach of the year at North Carolina Central in 2023, amidst a turnaround of their program. 

While group success was minimal, there were individual successes for the Lady Pirates in 2025. Outfielder Amani Johnson worked her way to the CAA All-Rookie Team with a .288 batting average in 32 games played and no errors across her 49 catches. 

Johnson is poised to be a key piece of a 2026 squad that will take a similar look to 2025. Five of seven registered hitters last season are returning to Hampton, including their best hitter, senior outfielder Carmynn Bonner. 

Bonner played all 48 games last season, slashed a .380 batting average with 25 of her 60 hits coming with extra bases. She was not a first or second team selection in the CAA postseason awards (probably deserved at least second team), but finished as a top ten hitter in the conference.  

Bonner will bat atop the Hampton order alongside infielders Leah Maduro, Cassidy Lee, and Santrea Armstead. Those four players all hit above .250 in batting average with solid power numbers, the offensive core of the Lady Pirates. 

Maduro can also double as a pitcher for Tarvin, although she took a 9.35 ERA in 68 innings pitched last season. Her only other returning arm is Ava Lester, who was just a freshman last year; 24 innings and a 7.66 ERA in sporadic appearances. 

There are two other pitchers on Hampton’s roster, both freshmen who have never thrown collegiate innings.  

Bowling Green Softball is blazing a new trail, as they have no record of ever playing either Hampton or Queens. In this invitational, BG has a chance to go 4-0 to start the regular season for the first time since 2018. 

Game recaps for both days of competition will be available on bgfalconmedia.com.

For Falcon Media Sports Network’s Bowling Green Softball season preview, click here.