The 2026 Athletes Unlimited Softball League postseason is here.
On Tuesday, the Portland Cascade secured the third and final spot in the playoffs thanks to an 11-1 victory by the Carolina Blaze over the Oklahoma City Spark; the loss eliminated the Spark from playoff contention.
ATHLETES UNLIMITED SOFTBALL LEAGUE
As a part of the league's expanded playoff format, the Cascade (14-11) will face the second-seeded Chicago Bandits (16-9) at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday at the Davis Diamond in College Station, Texas, for a berth in the best-of-three AUSL championship series. The AUSL Play-In Game will be televised on ESPN.
By finishing with the league’s best record and beating the Bandits in Sunday’s crucial finale, the Utah Talons (16-9) have already earned a spot in the championship series, which will begin at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday on ABC.
If the Talons and Bandits end up facing off in the finals, it will be a rematch of the 2025 AUSL title series, which the Talons swept, winning 3-1 in Game 1 and 1-0 in Game 2.
Here's a look at the complete postseason schedule.
AUSL playoff schedule
All games at Davis Diamond, College Station, Texas
Play-in
Cascade vs. Bandits, Thursday, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN
Championship (best of three)
Game 1: Bandits/Cascade vs. Talons, Saturday, 1 p.m. ET, ABC
Game 2: Talons vs. Bandits/Cascade, Sunday, 2 p.m. ET, ESPN
Game 3: Bandits/Cascade vs. Talons, Monday, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2 (if necessary)