Not a single member of the Huskies was born the last time the program made the big dance.
For the first time since 2001, UConn softball is heading to the NCAA Tournament. The Huskies claimed the Big East Tournament championship with a 18-4 run-rule victory over Creighton on Saturday to punch their ticket to the big dance.
UConn (35-17, 18-6 Big East) landed in the Baton Rouge Regional as a 3-seed, where it’ll face 2-seed Nebraska on Friday at 3 p.m. ET. No. 10 overall seed LSU is the host, taking on 4-seed Southeast Louisiana. The regional is a double-elimination format and the winner will advance to the Super Regionals against the champion of the Knoxville Regional.
In the program’s 50th campaign, the Huskies came up just short of capturing the Big East Regular Season crown after falling in the finale to St. John’s 6-5 in extras but cruised through the conference tournament. They opened with a tough 5-4 win over Providence in the opener before bludgeoning Creighton in back-to-back contests. UConn grabbed a 12-1 run-rule victory in the first followed by the 14-run win in the clincher.
Across the weekend, the Huskies put up 18 runs — most by a single team in Big East Tournament history. Despite all the offense, graduate pitcher Payton Kinney earned most outstanding player honors after notching three victories thanks to a 2.19 ERA in 16.0 innings of work. Junior catcher Grace Jenkins, senior outfielder Lexi Hastings and freshman shortstop Cat Petteys also made the all-tournament team.
This is UConn’s ninth conference tournament title, 17 league championship overall and ninth NCAA Tournament appearance. Prior to head coach Laura Valentino’s arrival ahead of the 2020 season, the Huskies hadn’t finished with a winning record since 2009. Since she took over, UConn has been above .500 in all five years, capturing the Big East Regular Season in 2022 and 2023 before finally breaking through in 2025.
The last time the Huskies went dancing, not a single member of their roster was born yet. Meanwhile, Valentino was just a mere 12 years old.
UConn’s original heyday came in the 1990s under legendary head coach Karen Mullins. She took over in Storrs in 1984 and won program’s first conference championship — the ECAC Tournament — the next year.
The Big East began sponsoring softball in 1990 and the Huskies built a dynasty, winning the regular season six consecutive times between 1992-97 while capturing the tournament every year in that span except 1994 and 1997. They made six of seven NCAA Tournaments between 1989-96 — including a Women’s College World Series appearance in 1993 — followed by another in 2001 before the program fell off.
Now, after more than two decades, UConn is finally back on the national stage.