Central Michigan University Athletics
Central Michigan University
Ohio
15th Straight Tournament Appearance Begins Wednesday for Softball
5/4/2026 2:14:00 PM | Softball
The Chippewa Softball Team will enter the 2026 Mid-American Conference Tournament at the #5 seed to face #4 Ohio in the opening round.
AKRON, Ohio – Early May means conference tournaments for softball, and that remains tradition for Central Michigan Softball.
Team 48 secured a 15th straight appearance in the MAC Softball Tournament in the second game against Miami (OH) earlier this season, but the tournament seeding was made official on Sunday evening; CMU will enter at the #5 seed. The top six teams in the conference qualify for the tournament.
Akron won the regular season and will enter as the top seed. Northern Illinois enters as the #2, Miami (OH) the #3, Ohio the #4, and Western Michigan clinched the last spot as the #6 seed.
Akron and NIU will have first-round bye games.
Central Michigan will take on Ohio in the opening round at noon on Wednesday, May 6th. The tournament is being held at Firestone Stadium, in Akron, Ohio.
Chippewa Tournament History
There have been 23 conference tournaments hosted by the MAC for softball. Central Michigan has appeared in 22 of those 23. The 2009 season is the lone season CMU did not qualify for the tournament. There was no tournament held in the 2020 or 2021 seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the 13th year, the tournament will be hosted in Akron, Ohio at Firestone Stadium. The Chippewas have won the most tournament and regular season titles in the history of the conference, winning 10 of each. The last tournament title for the Chippewas was 2013, and the last regular season title was in 2017.
Against the other five teams in the tournament, Central Michigan holds a 35-31 record, outscoring the five opponents 163-95.
In 2010, 2019 and 2024 the Chippewas were the #5 seed in the tournament.
All games for the tournament can be streamed on ESPN+.
For the latest news and updates on CMU Softball, follow the team on X (@cmusoftball) and Instagram (@cmichsoftball).
