Patty Gasso opened her tenure as USA Softball's newest head coach this weekend at the 2026 WBSC Women's Softball World Cup in Oklahoma City. The group stage at Devon Park is the first qualifying event for Olympic softball ahead of LA 28.
But Gasso already has her eyes on what's next.
"This is really the beginning of the realization that the Olympics are going to be here," she said.
Patty Gasso Makes USA Softball Coaching Debut
USA Softball formally introduced her as the women's national team head coach before group play began September 12th. She carries eight national titles and four consecutive championships at Oklahoma into the role.
And that experience is paying off.
The US has already routed Mexico, Brazil, and the Netherlands in group-stage play. They'll also face China, New Zealand, and South Africa before this year's tournament wraps.
The top two finishers here will advance to the World Cup Finals in Redcliffe, Australia next April, with a single Olympic spot up for grabs. Grasso, for her part, is already planning for Team USA's 2028 run in Oklahoma City.
"I think the expectation for USA in every sport when it comes to the Olympics is a gold medal, so the pressure is definitely real," she said. "We hope and trust that our fans will come out, and we hope all of us just showcase the best that we can."
USA Softball swept Day 2 of its WBSC Women's Softball World Cup 2026 group in Oklahoma City on Sunday. The squad posted back-to-back shutouts at Devon Park behind stars Megan Grant and Maya Brady, handily beating both Brazil and the Netherlands.
Megan Grant, Maya Brady Lead Team USA's Day 2 Doubleheader
Megan Grant launched the scoring spree, driving in seven runs against Brazil and going 3-for-4 with a home run. AUSL standout Maya Brady went 2-for-2 against the South Americans as well, with the 17-0 rout ending after just four innings.
However, Grant kept slugging as the US moved on to its WBSC Women's Softball World Cup nightcap.
She launched another homer against the Netherlands as the US cruised to an 8-0 win in five frames. Jayda Coleman capped the win with a two-run shot of her own.
On the mound, Kelly Maxwell struck out seven across four innings against Brazil. Montana Fouts followed her with eight punchouts over five frames against the Netherlands.
WBSC Women's Softball World Cup 2026 Group Play Continues in OKC
USA Softball has outscored opponents 36-0 through three consecutive shutout games.
The squad sits alongside China atop the group standings as play continues through Wednesday. Only the top two finishers will earn berths in the Women's Softball World Cup Finals.
Monday night's USA vs Japan softball final belonged to Montana Fouts. The Team USA ace shut out Japan 2-0 at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, coming within three outs of perfection to clinch the 2026 USA Softball International Cup title.
Fouts was untouchable through six full innings, setting down 18 straight batters before a leadoff single in the seventh spoiled her perfect-game bid.
By then, however, it didn't matter. She racked up seven strikeouts across 88 pitches as the US defense held firm behind her, including a full-extension grab by Skylar Wallace in right field in the first.
The offense, meanwhile, provided just enough.
Montana Fouts & Maya Brady Shine in Softball International Cup Final
Jayda Coleman singled and scored in the second inning for the early 1-0 lead. Then in the fifth, Janae Jefferson ripped a double against reliever Yukiko Ueno. Finally, Maya Brady drove her in with a base hit up the middle to make it 2-0.
Japan starter Miu Goto held the US to one run across her four innings before 44-year-old Ueno entered in relief. Neither pitcher could keep the US lineup quiet long enough for Japan's bats to catch up.
The US reclaimed the upper hand in the global softball rivalry, and Fouts was the reason why. Fresh off pitching the Utah Talons to an AUSL title, she delivered again when it mattered most.
USA Softball steps up to the plate today, as the 2026 International Cup returns to Oklahoma City’s Devon Park — home to September’s WBSC World Cup Group Stage Olympic qualifiers.
The world No. 2 US is split into two squads across the seven-team tournament. The Women’s National Team leads Group B alongside No. 4 Canada, No. 8 China, and No. 11 Australia. Group A’s Women’s Elite Team subsequently faces No. 1 Japan, No. 5 Chinese Taipei, and No. 42 American Samoa.
Team USA enters with 11 Cup titles through 14 editions. This year, the rosters are stocked with AUSL standouts fresh off the pro league’s successful second season.
Headliners include NCAA legend NiJaree Canady (Volts), 2026 ROY Reese Atwood (Blaze), and two-time champion ace Montana Fouts (Talons).
The USA Softball International Cup kicks off today at 11 AM ET, live on ESPN+ and USASoftball.TV.
MLB is going all in on elevating the women's diamond, with the men's pro baseball league reportedly making an eight-figure investment for an equity stake of over 20% in the brand-new Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) — just in time for the venture's debut season.
Though MLB has a long history partnering with USA Softball and sponsoring initiatives in and around the game of softball, this week's AUSL announcement marks the baseball organization's first-ever investment in a professional softball league.
"We thought rather than starting on our own and competing, that finding a place where we could invest and grow a business was a better opportunity," MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told the Associated Press on Thursday.
Along with the financial backing that will bolster AUSL's operations and growth plans, MLB is partnering with the new league to boost its visibility through marketing, sales, and content distribution across MLB platforms — including the airing of select AUSL games on MLB Network and MLB.com.
"This is a watershed moment for women's sports and especially for softball," AUSL Commissioner Kim Ng — who notably broke barriers in her previous career as an SVP and, later, GM in MLB — said in a league statement.
"MLB's investment will supercharge our efforts to build the sustainable professional league this sport has long deserved, and sends a powerful message about the value of female athletes and the importance of creating professional opportunities for them."
Softball legends pitch in to build Athletes United success
Athletes Unlimited has been active in the softball space with their unique, individual athlete-centered competition system since 2020, with AUSL marking their first stab at a more traditional league format.
Beginning with the league's first pitch on June 7th, four teams — the Bandits, Blaze, Talons, and Volts — will play a traveling 24-game season across 10 cities prior to a best-of-three championship series between the top two AUSL teams in late July.
With an advisory board of former college and Team USA stars — including Jennie Finch, Natasha Watley, Jessica Mendoza, and Cat Osterman — plus a roster of US softball legends-turned-NCAA coaches like Lisa Fernandez (UCLA) and Stacey Nuveman-Deniz (San Diego State) leading the four teams, AUSL is tapping the sport's best to build a strong foundation for future league success.
With plans to establish city-based squads next year, AUSL is capitalizing on one of the country's most popular college sports — all while creating a sustainable pipeline for current and future NCAA softball stars to turn pro.
The 2025 Women's College World Series begins today, with the sport's most prestigious organizations taking advantage of this week's NCAA softball spotlight to bestow awards on the season's top athletes.
Arkansas first baseman Bri Ellis earned USA Softball's 2025 Collegiate Player of the Year title on Tuesday, with the senior beating out a shortlist that included Nebraska pitcher Jordy Bahl and Texas Tech ace NiJaree Canady — who won the award in her 2024 sophomore season.
A menace at the plate, Ellis led the NCAA in on-base (.639) and slugging percentages (1.090). She finished the year with 26 home runs — the third-most in the nation — while racking up 72 RBIs, both setting single-season records for the Razorbacks.
Wednesday saw both Bahl and Canady take home hardware of their own, with the National Fastpitch Coaches Association naming the Nebraska redshirt junior their 2025 National Player of the Year while the Texas Tech transfer snagged Pitcher of the Year for the second straight season.
A two-time national champion with Oklahoma before transferring to the Cornhuskers, Bahl is the only player to rank in the Top 10 for both batting average and ERA, claiming multiple program records at the plate while tossing 26 wins from the circle. This season, she became just the fifth Division I athlete to ever record 20+ wins and 20+ home runs in a single campaign.
Another two-way titan, Canady leads the nation with a lights-out 0.89 ERA on the season, allowing a Division I-low of 3.65 hits per seven innings while leading the Red Raiders in long-ball production with 11 home runs.
How to watch the winners of the 2025 college softball awards
Despite their individual achievements, only Canady's Texas Tech survived last weekend's Super Regionals, meaning fans must wait until the 2026 NCAA season to catch rising Nebraska senior Bahl back in action.
It's a shorter wait to watch Ellis, however, as the Arkansas grad will begin her pro career with the Talons in the brand-new Athletes Unlimited Softball League, which starts its inaugural season on June 7th.
As for Canady, she'll look to take the Red Raiders on a deep run in Oklahoma City. No. 12-seed Texas Tech will face unseeded Ole Miss in both teams' first-ever WCWS game at 7 PM ET on Thursday, airing live on ESPN2.