SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Drury softball opens the 2026 season on Friday in Mansfield, Texas, in the Lone Star Classic for five games.
The season opens on Friday with back-to-back meetings against in-state foes Northwest Missouri State, followed by Missouri Western. The two MIAA opponents were picked to finish in the bottom half of the league in the preseason coaches' poll. The Griffons were picked to finish seventh, and the Bearcats in ninth.
Saturday, the Panthers will only play one game, a meeting with East Central at 4:15 pm. The Tigers return only one player from last season who hit over .300, Elyse LeClair. LeClair hit .351 in 44 games. East Central was voted to finish 11th in a 12-team Great American Conference (GAC).
The weekend closes with a morning game against Midwestern State and then Southern Arkansas. Midwestern State is led by first-year head coach Kae Lani Bryan. Bryan previously coached at Fort Scott Community College for seven seasons. The Muleriders are receiving votes in the national preseason poll and are preseason GAC favorites after returning three all-GAC players for 2026.
WEEKEND NOTES
TOUGH SCHEDULE
Drury's schedule features nine teams that made the NCAA Division II Tournament a season ago, including two from the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC), Indianapolis and Lewis.
The GLVC Regular Season Champions will play over 61% of their games away from Thompson Field, including the first 15 games on the road or at neutral sites.
There are five preseason NFCA top-25 teams and one receiving vote team on the Panthers schedule, headlined by preseason No. 9 Augustana in the home opener.
DRURY VS. THE TOP 25 (0-0)
Last season, Drury was 4-3 against teams in the top-25. The season was highlighted by a sweep of No. 25 Pittsburg State at home, the highest-ranked sweep in Drury history.
The Panthers also picked up splits with No. 8 Augustana and No. 20 McKendree. The third loss was the second game of the season in a neutral-site loss to No. 20 Southern Nazarene.
OPENING WEEKEND STRUGGLES
Under
Brooke Gajewski, Drury has struggled on the opening weekend of the season. The Panthers are 0-8 under Gajewski in the first weekend of the previous two seasons.
Despite the struggles, three of the eight losses have come to teams that were nationally ranked in the preseason.
The schedule does not get any easier for the Panthers to open the 2026 season. Drury has five games scheduled in the opening weekend, with four of the teams winning at least 28 games last season. The combined win percentage for the opening weekend opponents is .627.
PRESEASON EXPECTATIONS
Expectations for Drury are through the roof after the program's first-ever regular-season GLVC title in 2025. In the 2025 season, the Panthers made their deepest run in the national tournament in program history. Drury went 2-2 in the national tournament before bowing out to the eventual Midwest Regional Champion, Saginaw Valley State. The Cardinals are NFCA preseason No. 5 nationally.
Drury was voted to finish second in the GLVC preseason coaches poll, only behind NFCA preseason No. 22 Indianapolis. Second is the highest the Panthers have been picked in the preseason since the 2023 season, when they were also voted to finish second.
RETURNING FOR MORE
The pitching for the Panthers will be one of the most experienced in the GLVC. Drury returns 69% of their strikeouts and 66% of their innings pitched from last season, led by
Jordyn Foley, who struck 69 out in 126.1 innings pitched during her first season in Springfield.
Natalie Wilks only pitched in 56 innings last season but posted a 6-2 record. Wilks and Foley will be one of the top one, two punches in the GLVC to open the 2026 season.
42% of Drury's hits from 2025 return for the 2026 season, led by
Landry Cochran with 45 hits.
Kaley Adzick ended her season at the plate on fire. Adzick was 2-3 in the regional tournament elimination game against Findlay with 5 RBIs. Drury also brings in a number of newcomers who will be prominent in the Panthers' lineup, with
Jordan Meng from the transfer portal and
Claire Nelson and
Emma Niemczyk as freshmen.
The defense will be anchored by sophomore
Reece Anderson, who was second in NCAA Division II during her freshman season with 160 assists from the shortstop position. She will be next to
Gabrielle Bax at third base. Bax had 84 assists last season, the second most of the returning Panthers. The Drury outfield does not return two of three everyday starters from the 2025 season. Look for
Landry Cochran to roam centerfield with
Kenna Trower in left and
Emma Niemczyk in right.
NOTES ON COACH G
Brooke Gajewski has the highest winning percentage among all-time Drury softball coaches. Through her first 112 games at the helm of the Panthers, she has a .580 win percentage with 65 wins. She has the most wins of any Drury softball coach in their first two seasons. Chantiel Wilson is second with 62 wins, followed by Jerry Breaux with 56.
Gajewski is three wins away from 100 career wins. She won 32 games in her one season as the head coach of Milwaukee School of Engineering (NCAA-III) before her move to Drury.
ROAD WARRIORS
Drury will be road tested early in the 2026 season. The Panthers' first 15 games will be played away from Thompson Field. There are 31 total games for Drury away from Springfield.
In
Brooke Gajewski's first two seasons, Drury is 34-30 in games that are true road games or neutral sites.
MILESTONE WATCH
RECORD WATCH
- Brooke Gajewski currently holds the best win percentage in Drury softball history (.580).
- Kaley Adzick is ninth all-time in Drury career ERA (3.78) and is five wins away from being tied for tenth in Drury history (currently has 13).
- Reece Anderson is 30 assists away from the top-10 career assists in program history (currently has 160).
SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
The Bearcats return their best hitter from the 2025 season, Omara Love, the sister of Drury Women's Soccer player Keira Love. Love hit .366 last season en route to an honorable mention all-MIAA selection. Defensively, Northwest returns its middle infield duo, Curstin Todd and Malia Cuevas. Todd was a gold glove winner in the MIAA, and Cuevas was an honorable mention in the MIAA. The Bearcats also return Jaydn Streigle in the circle. Steigle was an all-conference honoree with a 10-8 record in 2025. Northwest was picked to finish ninth in the preseason MIAA poll.
SCOUTING THE GRIFFONS
Missouri Western was voted to finish seventh in the MIAA preseason poll. The Griffons return 11 players from their 32-21 2025 season. Sydney Young is the top returning hitter for the Griffons. Young hit .294 in her sophomore season in 52 games started behind the plate. Harley Pruetting is back in the circle for Western. Pruetting had the second-best ERA for the Griffons last season with a 3.49 with an 8-6 record.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
East Central will be under first-year head coach and ECU alum, Autumn Wyatt. The Tigers were voted to finish 11th in a 12-team Great American Conference (GAC) in the 2026 preseason poll. Elyse LeClair is back for her senior season. LeClair led the Tigers with a .351 batting average last season in 44 games. In the 52 hits she had in 2025, only nine of them were extra-base hits. There were five Tigers who hit over .300 last season; LeClair is the only one who returns for the 2026 season.
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
Midwestern State was picked to finish 13th in a 17-team Lone Star Conference (LSC). The Mustangs are led by first-year head coach Kae Lani Bryan. Bryan was the head coach of Fort Scott CC for seven seasons, where she coached current Panther
Arissa Zajac for two seasons. Chipper Mayorga and Kayleigh Bowers were named to the LSC Preseason Player and Pitcher to Watch. Mayorga, a freshman from San Antonio, is expected to make a splash for the Mustangs in the infield.
SCOUTING THE MULERIDERS
Southern Arkansas is the GAC preseason favorite as the Muleriders return four starters from their 43-win team a season ago. There are three all-GAC players returning for Southern Ark: Regan Dillon, America Rubio, and Kassie Rhodes. The Muleriders also added a familiar face to Drury via the transfer portal,
Sophia Luetticke. Luetticke was Drury's leader in OPS, BAA, runs, hits, triples, SLG, and stolen bases last season en route to an all-region selection.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Panthers will stay on the road for the Alvy Early Memorial Classic that opens on Feb. 6 against Central Missouri in Bentonville, Arkansas. Drury will play four games over the weekend.
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