The NCAA softball tournament bracket is down to its final push toward Oklahoma City after seventh-seeded Tennessee became the first team to punch its ticket to the Women's College World Series. Sage Mardjetko and the Volunteers swept No. 10 Georgia with a 2-1 win Friday in the Knoxville Super Regional.
The result moved Tennessee into the eight-team field that will fill out the Women's College World Series at Devon Park before Memorial Day, with the other super regional winners still to be decided. The best-of-three super regional series are being played May 21-23 or May 22-24, and the tournament's next stop is set for Thursday, May 28, when the 2026 Women's College World Series opens with four games in Oklahoma City.
For Tennessee, the victory was enough to turn a weekend at home into a trip to the sport's biggest stage. The Volunteers handled Georgia in a tight finish, and Mardjetko was part of the group that made sure the first ticket from the bracket was claimed early. That matters because the super regional round is the last gate before the Women's College World Series, where eight teams will meet at Devon Park.
The Knoxville result also gives the rest of the field a clear target. Every remaining super regional winner will join Tennessee in Oklahoma City, and every series this weekend carries the same deadline: win two games and move on, lose and the season ends. With the bracket now thinning fast, Tennessee is the first team to shift from chasing a spot to preparing for the stage itself.
What comes next is simple and unforgiving. More super regionals will finish across the May 21-23 and May 22-24 windows, the bracket will be cut to eight teams before Memorial Day, and the road to Devon Park will narrow to the Women's College World Series opener on Thursday, May 28.
