COLUMBIA, Ky. - Lindsey Wilson softball announced its complete schedule for the 2026 season last week, with the upcoming slate featuring games against three teams that were in the 2025 NAIA World Series.
Head coach Callum Maskill, in her fourth season at the helm, has loaded the Blue Raiders' schedule with 11 teams from last year's national tournament, including Central Methodist (Mo.), Coastal Georgia, Georgia Gwinnett, LSU Alexandria, Mobile (Ala.), Northwestern Ohio, Rio Grande (Ohio), and William Carey, as well as Mid-South Conference rivals Campbellsville (Ky.), Cumberlands (Ky.), and Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.).
Of that batch, Central Methodist, Cumberlands, and Georgia Gwinnett represented three of the top-five seeds in last year's NAIA World Series and are each ranked inside the top-10 of the NAIA Preseason Coaches' Poll for 2026.
Lindsey Wilson's season begins in Lawrenceville, Georgia on February 13-14 for the Georgia Gwinnett Grizzly Open. The Blue Raiders will face River States Athletic Conference preseason favorite Rio Grande (Ohio) twice, and Huntington (Ind.) and Georgia Gwinnett once.
The first home series of the year sees Lindsey Wilson host Northwestern Ohio on February 24-25. The Racers are the defending tournament champions of the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference and last played in Columbia a season ago.
Over the last days of February into March, the Blue Raiders travel to Columbus, Georgia for the NFCA NAIA Leadoff Classic. Then, the following weekend, Lindsey Wilson returns south to Gulf Shores, Alabama to compete in the Gulf Shore Invitational. Ten games are scheduled throughout the road trips. Five of which set against teams receiving votes or better in the NAIA Preseason Coaches' Poll.
A home-heavy March starts with Georgia Gwinnett on the 13-14, then continues with Brescia (Ky.) March 17, Union Commonwealth (Ky.) March 25, Georgetown (Ky.) March 27-28, and Indiana Southeast March 31.
The Blue Raiders will open Mid-South Conference play in the middle of the month at Cumberlands (Ky.) March 20-21. Meanwhile, the remainder of the league schedule is slated to play out in April with Bethel (Tenn.) April 3-4 at home, Cumberland (Tenn.) April 10-11 and Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) April 17-18 on the road, and a showdown with Campbellsville (Ky.) at Marilyn D. Sparks Park April 24-25 to close the regular season.
The 2026 Mid-South Conference tournament is set for April 29-May 2 at the home park of the regular season champion. Opening rounds of the NAIA National Tournament follow May 11-14 at campus sites across the country.
The 2026 NAIA World Series gets underway May 21-27 at the South Commons Complex in Columbus, Georgia.
