Florida A&M softball will remain in-state for the NCAA Tournament.
On Sunday, May 10, the day after the Rattlers won their first Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament title, the NCAA announced they will play in the Gainesville Regional, hosted by the No. 6 overall seed, the Florida Gators.
Florida A&M Rattlers players hoist the NCAA Southwestern Athletic Conference Softball Tournament championship trophy after beating the Southern Jaguars at the Gulfport Sportsplex in Gulfport, Mississippi, Saturday, May 9, 2026.
FAMU held a selection show watch party on campus at Bragg Memorial Stadium to learn its tournament fate via ESPN2’s broadcast.
Advertisement
“We’re super excited about advancing,” FAMU’s second-year head coach, Brittany Beall, told the media. “The momentum we have right now is something that is going to be great for us.”
FAMU (32-20) shares the four-team double-elimination field with Florida (48-10), Georgia Tech (30-27), and Texas State (38-20).
“We’re coming to fight hard,” said graduate student pitcher and utility player Samantha Smith, the SWAC Tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
“We don’t want to go down easy. We’re coming to play.”
The Gainesville regional starts with the Rattlers against the Gators at 11 a.m. Eastern Time on Friday, May 15, at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. The national tournament’s regional ends on Sunday, May 17.
Florida A&M Rattlers head coach Brittany Beall returned to her alma mater, Auburn, to face the Tigers in a NCAA college softball game at Jane B. Moore Field in Auburn, Alabama on Monday, March 23, 2026. Beall lettered four times as a member of the Auburn Tigers softball team from 2005 to 2008. The Tigers defeated the Rattlers 8-3 in the non-conference matchup.
FAMU faced Florida a year ago during the 2025 season. The Gators won that March 2025 game 9-1 in six innings.
Advertisement
The Gators are also a known adversary to Beall, who played in the Southeastern Conference as an Auburn Tiger in college.
“Facing Florida, an SEC opponent, is going to be tough,” Beall admitted. “We played at Florida last year. We’re familiar with the field area, the atmosphere, and I think we’ll be prepared.”
How FAMU softball made the NCAA tournament
FAMU earned its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017 by picking up an automatic qualifier by winning the SWAC Tournament on May 9.
The Rattlers beat Southern for the SWAC crown with a 2-1 walkoff victory in Gulfport, Mississippi.
“Throughout the tournament, we just knew what the assignment was ― have that heart, grit, and dog in us,” said senior Neriah Lee, an All-SWAC Tournament team member.
Advertisement
FAMU had been to two SWAC Tournament championship rounds the two years prior, but fell short to Jackson State both times. The Rattlers have been in the SWAC since the 2021-2022 season.
FAMU enters the NCAA Regional led by SWAC Player of the Year Amari Brown and the MVP Smith. Both are offensive and defensive forces as pitchers and utility players.
Florida A&M Rattlers utility player Amari Brown competes in the Leonard Moody HBCU Collegiate Invitational for the 2026 Whatley Cup at the Turner Lake Softball Complex in Covington, Georgia.
Other SWAC honorees include Lee, Zoryana Hughes, Keeleigh Spooner, and Jamison Townsend.
A look around the NCAA Tournament’s Gainesville Regional
FAMU, 32-20, SWAC Champions (automatic qualifier)
Florida, 48-10, at-large selection
Georgia Tech, 30-27, at-large selection
Texas State, 38-20, at-large selection
Gerald Thomas, III, is a multi-time national award-winning reporter for his coverage of the Florida A&M Rattlers at the Tallahassee Democrat.
Follow his award-winning coverage on RattlerNews.com and contact him via email at GDThomas@Tallahassee.com or on the app formerly known as Twitter @3peatgee.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU softball going to Gainesville regional in NCAA Tournament