GCSU earns No. 3 seed, will face USC Beaufort in PBC quarterfinals 

AUGUSTA, Ga. |  Georgia College & State University has qualified for the 2026 Peach Belt Conference Softball Tournament that will begin play Friday (May 8) as the No. 6 seed. 

The PBC Tournament has returned to the eight-team, single-elimination forward that will be plated over three days at the Haines and Carolyn Hill Stadium at Lynn Cottrell Park in Dahlonega, Georgia. As the top seed, the University of North Georgia will host the tournament.

GCSU (28-19) and Lander University (32-18) finished in a tie for third place with 16-11 league marks, but the Bobcats earned the No. 3 seed by virtue of their series win over the Bearcats in April. GCSU will face No. 6 seed University of South Carolina-Beaufort (30-21 overall, 12-15 Peach Belt) in a 1:30 p.m. quarterfinal game  Friday (May 8). The Bobcats took two-of-three games from the Sand Sharks earlier this season.

The winner of the GCSU-USC Beaufort game will face the winner of the 11 a.m. quarterfinal contest between No. 2 seed Columbus State University (33-20, 20-7) and No. 7 Augusta University (23-28, 12-15) in a noon semifinal game Saturday (May 9).

North Georgia (42-8, 22-5) will face No. 8 seed Flagler College (14-35, 10-17) in a 4 p.m. quarterfinal, while the final quarterfinal will feature No. 4 Lander against No. 5 seed University of South Carolina-Aiken (28-25, 12-15) at 6:30 p.m. The two winners from these quarterfinals will meet in the other semifinal at 2:30 p.m. Saturday (May 9).

The semifinal winners will face each other in the noon championship game Sunday (May 10). The winner of the event will earn the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Division II Softball Tournament.

Tickets are available for each day of the tournament online at https://peachbeltconference.org/tournaments/?id=85. Tickets are $15 for Friday (May 8) and Saturday (May 9) and $12 for the championship game Sunday (May 10). No cash sales will be available at the gate. Children ages five and under, and students with a valid ID from a PBC school are admitted free.

All games of the PBC Tournament will be available via pay-per-view. There is an option for any single game ($10) or an all-tournament pass ($25).

Below is the schedule for the Peach Belt Tournament bracket:

Friday's games:
Game 1 - No. 2 seed Columbus State vs. No. 7 seed Augusta, 11 a.m. (loser eliminated)
Game 2 - No. 3 seed GCSU vs. No. 6 seed USC Beaufort, 1:30 p.m. (loser eliminated)
Game 3 - No. 1 seed North Georgia vs. No. 8 Flagler, 4 p.m. (loser eliminated)
Game 4 - No. 4 seed Lander vs. No. 5 seed USC Aiken, 6:30 p.m. (loser eliminated)

Saturday's games:
Game 5 - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, noon (loser eliminated)
Game 6 - Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 2:30 p.m. (loser eliminated)

Sunday's games
Game 7 - Winner Game 5 vs Winner Game 6, noon