HAMPTON, Va. (Feb. 5, 2026) ... The Hampton University softball season will begin this weekend with the inaugural 1868 Classic as the Pirates will entertain Bowling Green State and Queens (N.C.) on Friday and Saturday.

Games times each day are 10am, 1 pm and 3 pm. For the tournament schedule click here.

Hampton (15-34, 5-22) brings back 17 players, nine of top 10 in average and two of the four main pitchers from 2025 season where they won 15 games and five in CAA play.

BONNER BASHING
Carmynn Bonner was a 2026 CAA Preseason Honorable Mention All-Conference selection after a junior season where she Finished in the top eight in the CAA in seven different categories last season.

• Was seventh in CAA last season in batting average (.385)
• Was fifth in slugging percentage in CAA last season (.654)
• Was sixth in OPS in CAA last season (1.087)
• Was tied for eighth in CAA last season in hits (60)
• Was tied for sixth in doubles in CAA last season (13)
• Was tied for second in CAA in triples last season (7) and ninth nationally
• Was second in CAA in triples per game last season (0.15) and eighth nationally
• Had 18 multi-hit games, eight mult-RBI games, an 11-game consecutive hit streak and reached base in 11 straight games
• Tied Hampton record for triples in a season (7)

LEFT COAST TO HOME BY THE SEA
A pair of newcomers to the Pirates in 2026 come to Hampton from California. Violet Salazar and Jayleen Reeves come to the coast from Cal State Bakersfield where they played three years together.

SERIES VS TOURNAMENT TEAMS
These will be the first-ever meetings with Queens and Bowling Green State

CARM AND CAM
With names that could confuse announcers, Carmynn Bonner and Camryn Hamilton will be two of a solid returning cast for the Pirates in 2026. Bonner topped the team in average (380) among several categories, while Hamilton handled duties behind the plate in 27 games last season driving in five runs.

BOWLING GREEN STATE (16-36 in 2025)
• Head coach Michelle Gardner  brings back 15 of 19 letterwinners from last year's team, including all nine positional starters and three of the six pitchers who saw action in 2025.
• That 2025 club surpassed the overall and Mid-American Conference win totals for the previous two years combined. BGSU went 16-36 last spring, after posting a combined record of 15-79 in the 2023 (9-41) and '24 (6-38) campaigns.
• At the plate, the players returning in 2026 combined for ...
    • 1,339 of the team's 1,362 at-bats (98.3%) in 2025;
    • 212 of the 219 runs scored (96.8%);
    • 195 of the Falcons' 198 RBI (98.5%); and
    • 360 of the team's 361 total hits (99.7%).
• Addie Martin was named to the MAC's All-Freshman Team. She hit 13 homers, the second-highest single-season total in program history.
• Martin became the first player in program history to hit at least 12 homers and steal at least 12 bases in the same season. 

QUEENS (16-36 in 2025)
The Royals return two of their top five in batting average from 2025 in Olivia Thornton (.295/27RBIs) and Lauren Byrd (.264).
Byrd is also their leading returner in home runs (10), second to Thornton in RBIs (23)

UP NEXT
The Pirates head to Georgia for the HBCU INvitational February 13-15.