SB | A Look Back on the Epic 2026 Saint Mary’s Softball Campaign

Buckley Steps on Home at Eugene Regional

Photo by: Gary Breedlove

SB | A Look Back on the Epic 2026 Saint Mary’s Softball Campaign

5/19/2026 9:14:00 AM | Softball

MORAGA, Calif. — The rise of the Saint Mary's softball program is rooted in belief, which has turned dreaming big into benchmark-raising success.

The Gaels, who have now won three straight West Coast Conference softball regular season championships, earned respect across the country by defeating some of the best in the sport and making history along the way – which culminated in reaching the program's first ever NCAA Regional Final.

Coming into the 2026 season, there was quite a bit of excitement around Saint Mary's Softball. Head coach Sonja Garnett returned 21 players from the 2025 roster, including seven All-West Coast Conference honorees, all fueled by the opportunity to compete, play for each other and the next pitch and next play. After just missing out on making the 2025 NCAA Tournament, the Gaels certainly left nothing to chance, winning the WCC by a hefty four game margin over Santa Clara. They then won their first two NCAA Tournament games in program history and advanced to the program's first-ever Regional Final. When the dust all settled, the Gaels rattled off 42 wins, the most in a single season by any program in Saint Mary's Athletics history – one of the 19 records that were either tied or broken this season – and ranked as the third-best mid-major softball program in the nation in Softball America's latest poll released on Monday.

After just a 5-3 start, the Gaels started to show their mettle early at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. The tournament featured two ranked opponents for the Gaels and a third receiving votes. Things got started with an extra innings thriller against RV San Diego State, who defeated the Gaels in the same tournament in 2025. This time around, it was the Gaels who reigned supreme, winning 9-5 in eight innings, due in large part to a five RBI game from Braxton Brown. The Gaels also battled valiantly against then No. 22 South Carolina, as true freshman pitcher Madeline Haun shutout the Gamecocks through five full innings before eventually surrendering four runs, as the Gaels narrowly fell 4-2. Paired with wins against Hawaii and Long Beach State, and a loss to No. 23 Washington, the Gaels capped the Mary Nutter with a 3-2 record, moving to 8-5.

As the schedule meandered through early March, the Gaels hit a brief lull, bringing their record 14-10. From that point on however, the Gaels went from a competitive team to a dominant team, as Saint Mary's would capture a program-record 12 straight victories to secure its best start to a season in program history at 26-10. That win streak featured back-to-back wins over then 14th-ranked Washington at the Stanford Round Robin, the same team that beat them 7-0 at the Mary Nutter. 24th ranked Stanford would end the win streak, but the Gaels would rebound to also down the Cardinal, going 3-1 at the Round Robin Tournament. Sam Buckley broke the program home run record that weekend with a two homer game against the Huskies, while Odhi Vasquez picked up all three wins in the circle, tying the program wins record and earning National Pitcher of the Week honors.

The Gaels opened up WCC play with five straight victories, a sweep of Pacific and two wins over Seattle U, the first of which saw Vasquez break the program wins record with a complete game shutout. Saint Mary's rebounded after dropping the finale in Seattle by rattling off back-to-back conference sweeps of Oregon State and San Diego. Two more records fell in the Oregon State series, as the Gaels surpassed 30 wins for the first time in program history in the series opening victory over the Beavers, and, in the finale, Hannah Ferguson logged her program record breaking 13th triple. The Gaels blanked San Diego by a combined tally of 24-0 in their three game set, with three more records being broken, single season triples and career stolen bases for Ferguson and single season RBI for Braxton Brown.

Saint Mary's would need just three wins over their final six contests to punch their ticket to Regionals, and despite dropping the openers to both LMU and Santa Clara, the Gaels would rally back to win both of those series and be crowned outright WCC Champions.

On Selection Sunday, the Gaels heard their name called as a three seed in the Eugene Regional. They began their postseason with a highly competitive game against Mississippi State, falling by a narrow 3-2 margin in extra innings. With their backs against the wall, the Gaels rattled off two wins on day two of the regional, sending four seed Idaho State and host Oregon home for their first two NCAA postseason wins in program history. This also moved the Gaels to 42 wins for the season, the most of any program in Saint Mary's Athletics history. Odhi Vasquez picked up both wins in the circle, tying her for the program single season wins record. In the Regional Finals against Mississippi State, Hannah Ferguson led off the game with a double, tying the program single season hits record, but that was one of just two hits that the Gaels could muster up, falling 5-0 and bringing their historic season to a close.

At the culmination of the regular season, Odhi Vasquez, Hannah Ferguson, Sam Buckley and Alex Cutonilli were named first team All-WCC, Braxton Brown and Victoria Castillo were named second team All-WCC, and Madeline Haun and Camille Lara were named honorable mention All-WCC. Vasquez was also honored as the conference pitcher of the year and was the Gaels first ever second team All-West Region honoree, while Sonja Garnett was named WCC Coach of the Year for the second time in three years.

While the 2026 campaign was one full of ground breaking moments, the Gaels are excited to turn their sights to the horizon on how the team can build on this momentum in 2027. Graduating seniors Taylor Lane, Tori Cervantes, Odhi Vasquez, Victoria Castillo, Sasha Canedo and Chelsea Bennett made immeasurable contributions to the program, and laid the foundation for slated returners like Hannah Ferguson, Sam Buckley, Alex Cutonilli, Camille Lara, Braxton Brown and Madeline Haun to continue to push the Gaels to new heights.

#GaelsRise