The Laurier Golden Hawks entered the 2026 Ontario University Softball (OUS) Championship, held October 17th and 18th in Carp, Ontario, looking to continue the program's recent success and defend the provincial title they won in 2025.

Before championship play began, several Laurier players and staff were recognized for outstanding regular-season performance. Senior Amy Hughes was named Top Overall Batter in the OUS, while first-year Millie Blamauer earned Rookie of the Year. Head Coach Tom Cox was named OUS Coach of the Year.

The championship opened with a local rivalry matchup as Laurier faced the Waterloo Warriors. Both pitchers were solid, and the game remained scoreless through the first five innings. Liv Faulhafer led off the bottom of the sixth with a single, followed by singles from Addi Nugent and Kendall Rainey, scoring the game's first run. A triple by Amy Hughes extended the lead to 4-0. A sacrifice fly from Maddy Halstead drove in Hughes to add another run. Laurier pitcher Cassidy Dollard allowed only one hit in the top of the seventh, but that was all she allowed to complete the shutout.

Game two saw the Golden Hawks taking on the Queen's Gaels. The Laurier bats were effective early, jumping to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Maryn Partridge pitched for Laurier and continued the Golden Hawks' shutout streak for seven more innings, as the Gaels couldn't put any runners on base. Jules Merritt and Millie Blamauer led the Laurier offense with two hits each.

The win over Queen's pushed Laurier into the medal round on Sunday, where they would face the tournament's other undefeated team, the Brock Badgers. Neither the Badgers nor the Golden Hawks could create much offense, and neither team scored in regulation play. In extra innings, Brock pushed a run across to take a 1-0 lead, and Laurier couldn't answer in the bottom of the inning, giving Brock the win.

This forced the Golden Hawks to regroup quickly as they immediately faced an elimination game against the Western Mustangs. Unlike in the previous game, the Golden Hawks' bats came alive immediately, sending ten batters to the plate in the bottom of the first inning and jumping to an early 6-1 lead. They added another run in the second and three more in the third to take a 10-1 lead. Western managed a single run in the fifth, but it wasn't enough to stop the Golden Hawks, who earned a spot in the gold medal game with the 10-2 win. Kendall Rainey led Laurier with four hits, with Jules Merritt and Zoe Ramkalawan also having multi-hit games. Cassie Dollard took the win for Laurier in the circle, her second of the tournament.

The rematch between Brock and Laurier began very differently than the earlier morning contest, with Laurier quickly putting two runs on the board in the top of the first inning. That modest lead proved enough, however, as pitcher Maryn Partridge kept the Badger offense off balance and the Laurier defense played outstanding defense. The defense turned two double plays, including a game-ending one when shortstop Hughes made a leaping catch and quickly threw to Merritt at first to clinch the back-to-back Golden Hawk championships.

After the game, Maryn Partridge earned the Doug Parry Championship Game MVP Award. Over 22 innings of pitching during the weekend, Maryn gave up just one earned run.

This is Laurier's first back-to-back OUS championship and the program's third overall. In 2024, they also won the silver in their first of three consecutive podium finishes. The win earns them a berth in the 2027 Canadian Collegiate Championships, which the Western Canadian Collegiate Association will host next Thanksgiving.