The University of Maine softball team will start its 2026 season at the Heart of Georgia Classic, held in Macon at Mercer’s Sikes Field. The Black Bears are set to play five games over the weekend, beginning with matchups against Evansville and North Carolina A&T on Friday. On Saturday, they will face Mercer and North Carolina A&T again before closing out the tournament with another game against Evansville on Sunday.
Live statistics for all games will be available, and updates regarding schedules or streaming links can be found at GoBlackBears.com/softballschedule.
Mercer enters the tournament after a strong 40-26 record last season. The team won the Southern Conference tournament and made its first NCAA Tournament appearance, advancing to the Gainesville Regional before being eliminated by Florida. Chris Kuhlmeyer takes over as head coach for his first season at Mercer.
Evansville finished last year with a 20-34 record. Bailey Dilleneder is now leading the Purple Aces in her debut season as head coach. North Carolina A&T posted a 12-38 record in 2025 under head coach Jose Gonzalez, who is entering his third year.
For Maine, several key players return this year. Francesca Guerrera, who was named to the America East All-Rookie Team in 2025 after starting all 49 games at second base, returns after ranking second on the team in hits (37), runs scored (13), and RBIs (24). Pitcher Alysen Rieth also returns; she tied for fourth in strikeouts within America East last season with a career-high 121 and led Maine in innings pitched (143.1) while recording eleven complete games.
Catcher Morgan Pool comes back after leading the nation by throwing out 25 runners attempting to steal bases and achieving a .992 fielding percentage with only two errors across 242 chances. Madison Simmerman was notable among America East rookies last year for her six wins and led all rookies with more than 111 innings pitched.
In their first season under head coach Kimberly Stiles, Maine improved their overall record to 12-37 in 2025—a seven-win increase from the previous year. The Black Bears achieved their first series win of three or more games since April 2021 by defeating Merrimack and secured an America East series win over UMass Lowell that same month—their first such conference victory since April 2021 as well. Additionally, on March 8, Maine recorded consecutive shutout victories against Sacred Heart and Yale—marking their first back-to-back shutouts since April 2018.
Looking ahead, Maine will travel next weekend to compete at the Hatter Classic hosted by Stetson University in Florida, where they are scheduled to play North Dakota State twice and Stetson three times.