The Bulldogs open the 2021 season with five games at a weekend event hosted by Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The games will be played indoors. Northern Iowa will broadcast all of Friday and Saturday's games through ESPN3.

Coach Scott Hall returns for his 11^th season in charge of the Bulldogs. Butler was arguably the hottest team in the BIG EAST a season ago before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the remainder of the season on March 12. The Bulldogs posted a record of 15-8 during the shortened season with the 15 wins leading the league. All 23 of Butler's contests were non-conference games as BIG EAST play had not yet begun.

Butler was picked sixth in the 2021 BIG EAST Softball preseason poll in a vote of the league's head coaches. UConn has rejoined the BIG EAST, giving the conference nine member institutions that play softball. Villanova enters the 2021 season as the favorite. The Wildcats earned 62 points, including six first-place votes, to stand atop the poll, edging 2019 BIG EAST postseason champion DePaul, which tallied 55 points and three first-place votes.
 
The Bulldogs return 2019 All-BIG EAST second team selection Lauren Fey, who was batting .421 over 23 games in 2020. Shortstop Maddie Moore also earned All-BIG EAST second team honors in 2019. All-BIG EAST honors were not awarded in 2020.
 
At the plate, Karli Rickett's seven home runs and 16 RBI led the team in 2020, tying her for third in home runs and ninth in the BIG EAST in RBI. In the circle, she led the team and was third in the BIG EAST with 88 strikeouts (against only 21 walks) and opponents hit just .195 against her, which also led the BIG EAST. Alyssa Graves posted a 6-3 record and a 2.75 ERA, striking out 81 batters in 63.2 innings of work.

Madison Seigworth and Mackenzie Griman join that duo, forming one of the deepest and strongest pitching staffs in the BIG EAST. Assistant coach Stacey Goyette serves as the team's pitching coach.

Four Bulldogs have taken advantage of the opportunity to return for a fifth season as the NCAA awarded an additional season of eligibility after last season was cut short. Madi Christiansen, Christina Candotti, Alyssa Garcia and Payton Longest are enrolled in graduate school and provide additional veteran leadership to the 2021 Bulldogs.

Outfielder Monique Hoosen and catcher Teagan O'Rilley highlight Butler's newcomers. Hoosen set a school record with 37 career home runs at East Peoria (Ill.) High School despite her senior season being canceled. O'Rilley earned second-team all-state honors in 2019, leading her Huntley team to the Illinois 4A state championship. Fellow freshman Kaylee Gross is currently rehabbing from surgery. 

In the shortened 2020 season, the Bulldogs hit 21 home runs in 23 games, highlighted by the seven from Ricketts. Candotti and Loren Simpson each hit three, while Griman added two. The Bulldogs only hit 22 total home runs in 48 games during the 2019 season.