The Case Western Reserve University softball team will be traveling to Virginia Beach, Virginia, for the Super Regional Round of the 2026 NCAA Division III Softball Championship, the organization announced on Sunday afternoon.

The Spartans (30-12) will take on host and top-ranked Virginia Wesleyan University (48-0) in a best-of-three series beginning on Thursday, May 21 at Broyles Field. The first game is scheduled to begin on Thursday at 2 p.m. with the second game set for Friday, May 22 at 1 p.m. The third, if necessary, game will begin at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Friday.

Virginia Wesleyan will be the home team for the first contest and CWRU will be the home team for the second game. The home team for the third game, if necessary, will be determined by a coin flip.

The winner of the series will advance to the eight-team 2026 NCAA Division III Softball Championship Finals in Salem, Virginia, from Thursday, May 28 to Wednesday, June 3. The Spartans are trying to make their third all-time appearance at the final site after placing in the top eight nationally in 2022 and 2018.

Case Western Reserve advanced to the Super Regional Round for the fourth time in program history after winning the regional hosted by Swarthmore College this weekend. The Spartans defeated Muskingum 3-2 on Thursday, Swarthmore 9-8 on Friday, and finished the regional with a 6-0 victory over the host Garnet on Saturday.

CWRU's last appearance in the Super Regional Round came in 2024 when the Spartans swept Coe College in Cleveland, defeating the Kohawks 8-5 and 8-3. The Spartans also appeared in the super regional in 2022, losing twice to Trine University in Angola, Indiana, and 2018 when the squad bested Hope College in three games in Michigan. Overall, Case Western Reserve has a 25-16 mark in the postseason, including a 4-3 record in the Super Regional Round.

Virginia Wesleyan went 3-0 last weekend in the regional it hosted, defeating John Jay 14-0, Manhattanville 6-0, and Pfeiffer 3-2. The Marlins are making their seventh all-time and fifth consecutive appearance in the Super Regional Round. VWU swept Gettysburg last season and Muskingum in 2024, lost in three games to Christopher Newport in 2023, and the Marlins were swept by the Captains in 2022. Virginia Wesleyan has an all-time postseason record of 51-26, winning national championships in 2017, 2018, and 2021.

The Spartans and Marlins have met just twice before on the softball field with the teams splitting the two matchups. Case Western Reserve prevailed 4-2 in 2024 at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Georgia, while Virginia Wesleyan won 9-5 in 2017 at the Beach Blast Tournament in Virginia Beach.

More information about the series will be available on athletics.case.edu later in the week.