The Weber State University softball team’s season ended on May 17, after their second loss of the NCAA Eugene Regionals. The Wildcats earned their place in the regional tournament after winning the Big Sky Conference Tournament on May 10, beating the Idaho State University Bengals, the Big Sky regular season champions.
The Wildcats were assigned to the Eugene region, hosted by the University of Oregon Ducks, the national No. 16 seed. The Stanford University Cardinal and the Binghampton University Bearcats filled out the rest of the region.
In their first regional game, the Wildcats faced off against their hosts. After an hour-long weather delay, the Ducks got off to a hot start with a home run on the game’s first pitch. Weber kept it a one-run game for the first three innings, but in the fourth, Oregon got four runs to make it a 5–0 game. In the fifth inning, the Ducks scored three more, ending the game due to a run rule, stating that if a team is ever up by eight or more runs by the fifth inning, the game will end there.
The Wildcats’ season was not over yet, as the regional tournament is a double-elimination tournament. Next, Weber took on the regional No. 3 seed, the Binghamton Bearcats.
The Bearcats struck first in the first inning, but the Wildcats tied the game with a Runs Batted In double from freshman outfielder Jordan McMahon in the second inning. In the third inning, senior outfielder Olivia Birkinshaw, just coming off being named the Big Sky Tournament MVP, hit a three-run home run to make it a 4–1 game. In the fourth, the Wildcats scored two runs; the first came from junior utility player Riley Whalen, who hit an RBI single, and the second came off a wild pitch where McMahon scored from second base.
Binghampton came back and scored two runs in the fifth, but Weber got another run from an RBI single from redshirt junior third baseman Abby Grundy. The Bearcats got one more in the seventh, but it wasn’t enough, and the Wildcats won 7–4.
This win marks the second NCAA Tournament win in school history and in Big Sky history for the Wildcats. The first came in 2019 when the Wildcats defeated California State University, Fullerton. The Wildcats remain the only team in Big Sky history to win an NCAA Softball Regional game.
Later on May 17, the Wildcats had a rematch with the Ducks. Oregon struck first again, but Weber tied it up in the bottom of the first with an RBI double from the co-Big Sky Freshman of the Year, second baseman Sadie Kirk. This was the only run the Wildcats got; the Ducks got eight more runs and won by run rule again this time in the seventh inning.
With that loss, the Wildcat softball season came to an end. This season was the first for new head coach Kristin Delahoussaye, who took over from coach Mary Kay Amicone after her retirement following the 2024 season.
