UConn Claims Second-Straight Big East Tournament Championship

UConn now has an automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Softball Championship and will learn its seeding fate on Sunday during the Selection Show.

This time, they’ll do it without two of their former best players. When twin sisters, Grace and Hope Jenkins, transferred in the offseason, the future looked bleak for the Huskies. Grace, the standout catcher, had an exceptional year at the plate, surpassing multiple single-season program records, including home runs, doubles, RBIs, walks, and total bases. Her 19 home runs, 19 doubles, 64 RBIs, and .888 slugging percentage were all conference-leading statistics, which granted her Big East Player of the Year. 

But under head coach Lauren Valentino, she’s managed to take her program to the BIG EAST championship game for the fourth time in the last five years, and hit a 30-win mark for the fifth-straight season. 

They were selected as the No.3 seed in the Baton Rouge Regional last season, but fell to the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the opening round. How will 2026 look different? 

How UConn Won the BIG EAST 

A massive five-run sixth inning got the job done. Tied at three, nine-hitter Heidi Barber ripped an RBI triple, which made way for an intense rally. Cat Petteys raked in a two-run homer, while Emma Willers and Kai Kibling 

Creighton’s Landrey Harris entered the game in the circle after UConn put up an explosive first inning off Audrey Gilam, with two RBI doubles from Petteys and Kai Breslin, plus an added RBI from Willers. She had thrown a full, even innings with 118 pitches in the Game 1 victory, and it was showing in the do-or-die moment. 

Petteys ended the night just a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. 

Creighton certainly wasn’t going down without a fight, though, as they were hunting for a first-ever BIG East Tournament Title. 

After losing to UConn in the 2025 Big EAST Tournament championship and two more in 2026, including once in April, and a 9-3 defeat in the first round of the Tournament on Thursday, the revenge has been mounting for the Bluejays.  They took Game 1 of the day, as Lily West made history, becoming the program’s career hits leader with 246.

A double from Keegan Mayhue put them on the board, but the bats were silent until the fifth inning when Mayhue rose to the occasion once again, taking advantage of a no-out bases-loaded situation. Her RBI double tied up the frame. 

It all came apart in the nightmare sixth inning, and they were unable to fire up the bats with Jess Walter dealing on the mound for the Huskies. 

Walter finished the complete-game outing with one strikeout, a walk, and three earned runs.