On to the championship! The Gaels celebrate victory over 13th-ranked Oregon in the NCAA Regional on Saturday. / Photo by Gary Breedlove for SMC Athletics
Oh, What a Night! Saint Mary’s Softball Notches First Two NCAA Postseason Victories to Move on to Regional Final
The Gaels made history with their first two wins in a NCAA Regional Tournament, defeating Idaho State and Oregon in back-to-back games on Saturday in Eugene. Now they face Mississippi State for the regional championship.
Saturday, May 16, 2026 was a historic day for Saint Mary’s Softball: The Gaels notched not one but two NCAA Tournament Wins for the first time in program history to move onto the Eugene Regional Final. In this double-elimination style tournament, the Gaels defeated Idaho State 3–1 in an elimination contest in an afternoon game. Then they turned around for a second game and upset the 14th ranked Oregon Ducks 5–4 to bounce them from their own regional.
It was an epic afternoon and evening of Softball in more ways than one. This is the third appearance for the Gaels in a NCAA Regional game. It’s the first time they have won a game in the tournament. The wins also marked the Gaels’ 41st and 42nd victories of the year—tying and breaking the Saint Mary’s College record for most wins by any program in a single season.
While both wins were truly the embodiment of team victories, Hannah Ferguson had a tremendous offensive day: She logged five hits over the two contests on Saturday, after going hitless in Friday’s extra-innings loss to Mississippi State. In game one against Idaho State, Andrea De La Rosa provided the winning hit—a single that delivered two RBIs to put the Gaels ahead in the bottom of the sixth. In game two against Oregon, Tori Cervantes drove in the eventual game-winning run with an RBI triple in the bottom of the fifth. Pitcher Odhi Vasquez picked up the win in relief in both contests in poetic fashion. She is the Gaels’ all-time leader in wins—and now she owns the two biggest W’s in program history.
Friday: Let the Games Begin
On Friday evening, the Gaels forced extra innings in their postseason opener against the 20th-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs, but fell by a slim 3–2 margin in the eighth. Despite the loss, the Gaels proved that they can compete with just about any team in the country—and they were primed and ready to make some noise on day two of the Eugene Regional.
Pitcher Odhi Vasquez went all 7.2 innings of this extra-innings contest, surrendering just one of her three runs as earned, while striking out six and walking just one. The senior also surpassed 500 innings pitched in her career with Saint Mary’s. Sam Buckley put the Gaels in front in the top of the first with a two-run blast, but that was all the offense the Gaels could muster against Mississippi State—which boasts the eighth-ranked pitching staff in the country by ERA.
The loss on Friday night set the Gaels up for Saturday’s first game against Idaho State, who lost to host team Oregon in their game on Friday.
Saturday Game One: A Milestone First Victory
As brilliant as Odhi Vasquez was to start game one of the regional, pitcher Madeline Haun nearly matched her pitch for pitch to start game two. The true freshman out of Spring Branch, Texas, walked the leadoff hitter, then proceeded to retire the next 16 batters she faced. The Gaels took a 1–0 lead in the second on an infield RBI single from Hannah Ferguson—and through five full innings, that’s where the scoreline stayed.
Haun eventually surrendered her first hit with one out in the top of the sixth, a solo shot to center field that leveled the score at one apiece. With two away and the go-ahead run standing at second, Haun gave way to Odhi Vasquez out of the pen, who quickly induced a pop up to second to strand that runner in scoring position.
The Gaels wasted no time pulling back ahead. Sam Buckley drew a one-out, four-pitch walk, and Kiah Silva smacked the first pitch she saw right back up the middle. Alex Cutonilli advanced both runners into scoring position on a groundout back to the pitcher. Then true freshman Andrea De La Rosa came to the plate and delivered the biggest hit of her career: a two out two RBI go-ahead single, scoring both Buckley and Silva.
Needing just three outs to secure the first Saint Mary’s postseason victory in program history, Vasquez returned to the circle. She allowed a leadoff single but followed that up by inducing a fly out, followed by a strikeout. That brought the Gaels to within one out of the W. For the final out of the game, the Bengals looked to have a single back up the middle, but Mia Zabat at shortstop laid out to stop the ball and flipped it to Alex Cutonilli at second to record the force. So ended the historic ballgame.
Saturday Game Two: Dethroning the 13th-Ranked Ducks
With a win over Idaho State, the Gaels then had to turn around and take to the field once more to face Oregon, which had lost to Mississippi State earlier on Saturday. Against the Gaels, the Ducks wasted no time with a leadoff home run in the top of the first. Mia Nishikawa came out of the bullpen with one out in the frame and kept the deficit at one through three innings. Oregon hit another blast in the fourth, this time good for two. Nishikawa then handed off pitching duties to Odhi Vasquez, who finished off the top of the fourth keeping the score at 3–0.
The Gaels put at least one runner on in every inning through the first three but couldn’t push any across in the early going. That all changed in the bottom of the fourth. Alex Cutonilli and Andrea De La Rosa led off the frame with back-to-back singles. With one away, Tori Cervantes loaded the bases with a knock. That brought up Taylor Lane, who smashed a ball to first base that was mishandled, plating both Cutonilli and De La Rosa. But the Gaels were not finished scoring. Mia Zabat reached on a fielder’s choice bunt that did not result in an out, loading the bases once again, this time for the top of the order and Camille Lara. Lara promptly poked a ball to the opposite field, tucked just inside the left field foul line, plating two more and giving the Gaels their first lead against the host Ducks.
Oregon drew level with an unearned run in the top of the fifth, but the Gaels mounted a two-out rally in the bottom half, featuring a Kiah Silva single and a Tori Cervantes triple. Just as quickly as the lead was surrendered, it was quickly taken back by the Gaels. All that was left to do was for Odhi Vasquez to be Odhi Vasquez. The Gael ace allowed the tying run on base in both the sixth and seventh inning but stranded those runners to preserve the W.
Making History in More Ways than One
The Gaels’ victories on Saturday are notable for a few more reasons. Saint Mary’s became the first team to eliminate a host national seed this postseason. And with the Ducks ranked 13th in the country, Oregon now becomes the highest ranked opponent that the Gaels have defeated this season. For 2026, Saint Mary’s is now 3–1 against Big 10 opponents and overall 4–5 against nationally-ranked foes.
Under Head Coach Sonja Garnett—honored as WCC Coach of the Year—the Gaels also picked up their 42nd win, surpassing a mark set by the 1977 Saint Mary’s Baseball team under Coach Miles McAfee, up until now the winningest season for any SMC team. And with its first two NCAA postseason wins, Saint Mary Softball joins the Men’s Basketball program as laying claim to winning multiple games in an NCAA postseason.
For individual players, Saturday saw a few of them surpass milestones—and bring some into sight. Hannah Ferguson logged five hits over Saturday’s games, moving her within one hit of tying the program single-season hits record of 79, set in 2000 by Jennifer Price.
In terms of Gaels pitching, WCC Pitcher of the Year Odhi Vasquez picked up wins number 20 and 21 this season. Her 21st tied the single season program record. She also added to her program career tally, now with 52 wins in the circle. Madeline Haun set a new personal best, retiring 16 batters in a row against Idaho State.
And when it comes to winning hits, on Saturday the Gaels did it with style. For true freshman Andrea De La Rosa, her winning hit for the Gaels in game one against Idaho State in the bottom of the sixth marks her first major moment on the national stage. Tori Cervantes, who roped the go-ahead RBI triple in the bottom of the fifth in game two against Oregon for the eventual winning hit, becomes just the fourth player in program history to log double-digit triples in her career.
Up Next: Rematch on Sunday for the Championship
On Sunday, Saint Mary’s is scheduled for a rematch—or two—against Mississippi State in the Regional Final. The Gaels will see the Bulldogs at 4:30 p.m. Pacific. Not in Eugene to catch the action in person? Watch the game live on ESPNU.
Since this is a double-elimination tournament, Saint Mary’s will need to defeat Mississippi State twice in order to qualify for the program’s first ever Super Regional. Whatever happens, this has been a season for the record books.
