SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Presbyterian College softball team has returned to the Big South Conference Championship Tournament after a four-year hiatus, and they won't have to travel far for Wednesday evening's opening-round matchup against the #5 seed Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs.

PC – who earned the #4 seed with an 8-10 mark in league outings – will be competing in the first game of the Big South bracket, slated for 3:00 PM on ESPN+.

The entire double-elimination tournament – lasting all the way to Saturday – will take place at USC Upstate's Cyrill Stadium less than an hour from Presbyterian's campus.

Head coach David Williams' crew was just at that same facility over the weekend, clinching their spot in the postseason with a Game One victory against the Spartans to get back in the conference tourney for the first time since 2022.

When the Blue Hose and Gardner-Webb last faced off three weeks ago, the result was a truly chaotic series where PC took home back-to-back W's including a five-run extra-innings comeback in the finale.

Win or lose, Presby's second bout in the Big South bracket will occur on Thursday. More tournament details can be found below.


 
GAMEDAY INFO – WEDNESDAY, MAY 6

#4 Presbyterian (20-30, 8-10) vs. #5 Gardner-Webb (30-23, 8-10)

WHERE / WHEN: Cyrill Stadium (Spartanburg, S.C.) | 3:00 PM

WATCH: ESPN+

LIVE STATS: SideArm

TICKETS: Buy Now

TEAMS: 2026 Bracket

MORE DETAILS: Championship Central


 
TOURNAMENT BACKGROUND

 
- By defeating Upstate thanks to seven brilliant innings from senior Peyton Duncan in a 3-0 decision, PC knocked out Longwood from the field of five and also jumped G-W in seeding since they own the tiebreaker over the Runnin' Bulldogs.

- Winthrop earned the Big South regular season championship and the #1 seed in the 2026 bracket, collecting a 13-4 conference record. Presbyterian was the only team in the division to defeat the Eagles twice, winning a 5-3 rubber match in mid-March.

- Upstate (who has won the last two Big South tournament titles) will serve as the #2 seed in their home ballpark due to a 12-6 mark in league meetings, while Radford claims the third seed on a conference record of 10-8.

- Since joining the Big South formally in 2009, the Blue Hose have qualified for the conference tournament eight times. They advanced the furthest in 2015, making it all the way to the championship game, holding an 8-14 all-time postseason record.

- Coach Williams' crew won three and lost three when they last appeared in the conference tourney four years back, eliminating Radford and Charleston Southern by a combined margin of 13-4 before ultimately falling in the semifinals to Longwood.


 
CHECKING UP ON G-W
 

- In the 24 days since Presbyterian completed the series comeback at Gardner-Webb, the Runnin' Bulldogs have played 10 games and split those results evenly at 5-5.

- G-W's tournament hopes were very slim after getting swept by Radford (scoring just two runs in 21 innings during that sequence), although they were able to broom Longwood in Boiling Springs to reenter the conversation.

- All three of Gardner-Webb's wins against the Lancers came by two runs or less, producing four runs in the bottom of the 6^th to finish off the sweep and win 5-3.

- That confirmed G-W's participation in the Big South tournament, although they ended the regular season with a non-conference doubleheader at ETSU.

- Rookie pitcher Glenna McLamb was voted the conference Freshman of the Week after throwing a complete-game shutout in the back half of the DH, taking a 1-0 victory which was Webb's 30^th win of the year.


 
REVISITING THE G-W SERIES

 
- Game One at Gardner-Webb was a tense pitcher's duel between Avery Robinson and G-W's Alli Stidham, with the latter taking a 2-0 win on six strikeouts.

- The following day couldn't have taken a more opposite tone, with PC's offense erupting for 23 runs and 28 hits over the rest of the series.

- Duncan (a three-time Big South Pitcher of the Week selection) eclipsed 300 career strikeouts in the second affair while the Scotsmen's bats were red-hot, stacking up six third-inning scores and running away with a 12-2 mercy rule.

- Round Three was perhaps the game of the year from Presbyterian's perspective, surging back from a 7-2 hole in the 6^th inning to force extra's and eventually win an 11-10 thriller.

- Senior catcher Molly Mattas started the rally with her third home run of the season, and with PC down to their final out in the last frame, freshman Ava Coggins drilled a two-run single down the first-base line to tie the game at eight apiece.

- Another RBI knock from Mattas made it 10-8 PC in extra's, but Gardner-Webb punched back with a no-out two-run homer shortly thereafter.

- Four-time Big South weekly award winner Hali Duke drove in the game-winning run in the 9^th, a grounder to short where Avery Fielden made it home safely from third-base before a play could be made.

- After giving up the tying longball in the 8^th, sophomore pitcher Kylie Rast maintained her composure and sat down six consecutive batters to take the series.

- Coggins, Baxleigh Arnette, Gracie DeCuir, and Blair Darby batted a combined .475 in that series, helping the Blue Hose reach 19 hits in Game Three which is the second-highest single-game tally in program history.

- Duke delivered a season-high five RBI in the dramatic finale, the first time that a PC player batted in five runs in a sole contest since Morgan Hess back in 2023 versus East Carolina.


 
POSTSEASON HISTORY vs G-W

 
- Wednesday will denote the first time that Presbyterian has faced Gardner-Webb in a postseason setting since 2012, an offensive slugfest in Radford that featured 30 total hits and five homers. G-W prevailed 11-9.

- The Blue Hose also encountered the Runnin' Bulldogs in the 2011 Big South tournament, suffering a similar result in Rock Hill as Gardner-Webb deposited a top-of-the-7^th RBI single to take a 3-2 victory.


 
SCENARIOS FOR THURSDAY

 
- Win or lose tomorrow, PC is guaranteed to return to Cyrill Stadium on Thursday. Should they defeat Gardner-Webb for the third time this spring, they will move on in the winner's bracket and will have a 2:30 date with the top-seed Winthrop the next day.

- In the event that Presby is unsuccessful against the Runnin' Bulldogs, they will match up with either USC Upstate or Radford in an elimination game that is scheduled for 3:00 Thursday.

- All Big South tournament contests will be streamed live on ESPN+. Whoever takes home the championship trophy will receive the league's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Tournament, a 64-team field that is comprised of 16 regionals.