With the start of the season just over two months away, the Valpo softball program announced its schedule for the 2026 campaign Wednesday.
 
A quartet of early-season tournaments kick off the slate, starting with four games over two days Feb. 7-8 at the DePaul Dome Tournament in Rosemont, Ill., where the Beacons will face Detroit Mercy, Green Bay and Oakland. The next weekend brings a trip to UT Martin, with games as well against Saint Louis — which won 34 games and the A-10 Tournament last season — and Mississippi Valley State.
 
Valpo heads out west Feb. 19-22 for a tournament at UNLV, with a field which includes Idaho State — which won 37 games and the Big Sky regular season title in 2025 —Utah Valley and Merrimack. The Beacons' final tournament is Feb. 27-March 1 at Lindenwood, with games as well against Green Bay and Western Illinois.
 
The Missouri Valley Conference schedule starts up March 6-7 with a series at Southern Illinois. Other MVC road series include Murray State (March 13-14), Illinois State (April 3), Drake (April 17-18) and Evansville (May 1-2). The Beacons will also play five nonconference road games throughout the conference slate, highlighted by games at Purdue (March 25) and Indiana (April 22), both top-50 RPI teams last season – other nonconference road games are at Northern Kentucky (March 10), Notre Dame (April 8) and Illinois (April 29).
 
The home schedule is scheduled to kick off March 17, as DePaul visits the Valpo Softball Complex for the first time since 2006. The rest of the home slate features MVC series against UNI (March 20-21), Indiana State (March 27-28), Belmont (April 10-11), UIC (April 14) and Bradley (April 24-25).
 
The top six teams in the final regular season standings qualify for the MVC Tournament, hosted by Southern Illinois May 6-9. The tournament champion earns the Valley's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Beacons are looking to carry the program's momentum from the 2025 campaign into the 2026 season. Last year's squad won 11 more games than the previous season, while Valpo's win total and MVC finish were the program's best since 2018.