BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - Head Coach Bailey Wigness and the Gardner-Webb softball team have released its upcoming 2026 schedule, featuring 54 games, three home tournament weekends, and an 18 game Big South Conference slate

RUNNIN ' BULLDOG CLASSIC: Gardner-Webb will open the season with four straight tournament weekends, including three at Brinkley Stadium. To start, GWU will host the Runnin' Bulldog Classic from February 6th through 8th. The official season opener for the Dawgs set for February 6th with a 3 pm/5:30 pm doubleheader against Youngstown State and Furman, February 7th will see Gardner-Webb face Youngstown State and Tarleton State, before wrapping up against Furman on February 8th

RED AND BLACK CLASSIC: Next, Gardner-Webb will host the Red and Black Classic, scheduled from February 14th through the 16th. GWU will welcome Leigh and Queens for a doubleheader on February 14th, host Tennessee Tech and Leigh on February 15th, then battle Queens one last time on February 16th

JAX STATE TOURNAMENT: Gardner-Webb finally hits the road from February 20th through the 22nd, visiting Oxford, Alabama for the Jacksonville State Tournament. The Runnin' Bulldogs will open against Northwestern State and DePaul on February 20th, face Northwestern State and hosts JSU on February 21st, then conclude the busy weekend against Jacksonville State again on February 22nd

SPRING IN THE SPRINGS: The Runnin' Bulldogs host the annual Spring in The Springs event from February 27th through March 1st. North Dakota State travels all the way to Boiling Springs to open the event against GWU on February 27th, part of a Dawgs doubleheader with Lafayette. On the 28th, Gardner-Webb will face Division I newcomers New Haven, as well as Lafayette again. To finish the tournament, GWU will take on New Haven one last time on March 1st

WEST GEORGIA ROUND ROBIN: The final early season tournament sees Gardner-Webb return the favor from a season ago and visit West Georgia for a three-team event on March 7th and 8th. The Runnin' Bulldogs will play back-to-back doubleheaders against West Georgia and North Alabama down in Carrollton

MID-WEEK NON-CONFERENCE: Gardner-Webb will have several mid-week non-conference games this season. The first will be a home doubleheader against Western Carolina on February 24th, before GWU travels back to Cullowhee, NC to return the favor on March 25th. The Runnin' Bulldogs will also host Bucknell for a doubleheader on March 10th, as well as venturing out on the road to play NC Central twice on March 4th, Clemson for one game on March 31st, App State for one on April 9th, and ETSU in a doubleheader on April 28th

CONFERENCE PLAY: Thee Runnin' Bulldogs begin Big South play at home against Charleston Southern on March 13th and 14th. The next two conference series will be on the road, when GWU faces Winthrop on March 20th and 21st, followed by defending champions USC Upstate on April 3rd and 4th, After nearly a month away from Brinkley Stadium, Gardner-Webb hosts Presbyterian on April 10th and 11th. After a quick stop in Radford on April 17th and 18th, the Dawgs host Longwood on April 25th and 26th for the final Big South series of the season