The Belmont University Softball team will enter the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Tournament as the No. 1 seed, following its first regular-season title in program history, according to a May 6 announcement.
This achievement marks a significant milestone for the Bruins, who have not lost a conference series all season and recorded four MVC series sweeps. The team is aiming to secure its second consecutive MVC Tournament championship after winning the title for the first time in 2025.
Belmont will begin tournament play on Thursday, May 7 at Charlotte West Stadium in Carbondale, Illinois, facing Illinois State at 1 p.m. Central Time. The Bruins earned a first-round bye due to their top seeding. All games will be streamed on ESPN+, with live statistics available on belmontbruins.com.
Throughout the season, Belmont has been ranked No. 1 in both the D1 Softball and Softball America Mid-Major Polls for five consecutive weeks and has received votes in national Top 25 polls over several weeks. Defensively, Belmont leads the MVC with a .975 fielding percentage and has recorded 954 putouts this year. Offensively, they are hitting .297 with 232 runs batted in and maintain a .382 on-base percentage.
In pitching performance, Belmont’s staff has achieved sixteen shutouts this season—tied for fifth nationally—including twelve by their leading pitcher who was named MVC Pitcher of the Year. Johnson enters tournament play with a record of 25–2, an earned run average of 0.72, and leads NCAA Division I softball in multiple statistical categories including strikeouts (344), strikeouts per seven innings (13.1), and strikeout-to-walk ratio (11.47). Another player was recognized as MVC Defensive Player of the Year while ranking second in batting average within the conference at .446.
Six members of Belmont’s team were named to the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Team for academic achievements; one was honored as league Scholar-Athlete of the Year for a second straight year.
Looking back at last year’s tournament run, Belmont won its first-ever MVC Championship by defeating Bradley University in quarterfinals (8-3), Northern Iowa in semifinals (7-5), then Southern Illinois—the reigning champions—in finals with a score of 6-2.
Head coach Laura Matthews is now leading her sixth season with support from Emlyn Knerem and Faith Canfield; together they were selected as MVC Coaching Staff of the Year.
