The third annual British University and College Sport National Softball Championship dawned as a bright and brilliant day at the National Baseball and Softball Complex at Farnham Park on 11 May – a far cry from the originally scheduled wet March weekend. Nine of the United Kingdom’s best slowpitch softball teams battled it out over the two days, with each team playing at least seven games.

The nine competing teams were divided into two groups to start the competition, forming their first round-robin round. 

Groups

Group A Group B
UCLan Oxford Brookes
Reading Nottingham
Loughborough York
Southampton Bournemouth
Manchester Essex*

*Essex did not attend Nationals, with rules stating that all games be considered a 7-0 forfeit to the opposition.

Saturday saw the first round of play, along with the initial calculations and the start of the second round, with all nine teams competing hard. Scores and standings from Day 1 can be found here.

 

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Sunday was met with incredible weather once again, and the conclusion of the second Round Robin round in the morning. With the final standings sorted, the top four consisted of Reading, Nottingham, York and two-time defending champions Loughborough, setting up the semifinals.

Reading, as the one seed, faced Loughborough in the 1 v 4 matchup, a back-and-forth affair that saw the Knights – in their first BUCS Softball Playoff – pull out a 10-7 victory, and guaranteeing a new champion.

In the 2 v 3 matchup, Nottingham – last year’s bronze medal winners, and the inaugural 2022 runner-up – matched up against York, with the Arrows coming away with the victory.

The final, broadcast on BSUK-TV and the BUCS YouTube channel, saw more than 1,000 people tune in to watch as Nottingham and Reading faced off with the championship on the line. Nottingham jumped out to a two-run lead in the first, but Reading answered back with five runs of their own, and held a three-run advantage after the first frame. From there, however, Nottingham chipped away, scoring in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings to take a 9-2 lead, before Reading were able to answer. While Reading added a run in the sixth, Nottingham added a pair of insurance runs in the final inning, and despite a late Knights threat, were able to shut the door for their first-ever BUCS National Softball Championship!

Overall, the weekend was a celebration of university softball, especially with how the level of play has developed over the past couple of seasons. UCLan coach and Captain Jonathan Rodriguez summed it up after the tournament with a message to all the teams: “Shoutout to all the captains in this group, you’ve pushed the standard so much over the last two years and I’m honoured to be a part of it!”

BUCS Points

  1. Nottingham – 50
  2. Reading – 35
  3. York – 24
  4. Loughborough – 16
  5. Oxford Brookes – 14
  6. Manchester –  12
  7. Bournemouth –10
  8. UCLan – 8
  9. Southampton – 6
  10. Essex – 0

2024-2025 Season

Information about the 2025 BUCS National Baseball and Softball Championships will be announced later this year. Universities and university students looking to add baseball or softball to their offering of BUCS sports should get in touch at info@BSUK.com.

Previous Winners:

2022 – Loughborough

2023 – Loughborough