We are entering the home stretch of the season, folks. With just three weeks left to play, the conference tournament is starting to take shape. Everyone still has a shot of making it in or missing it right now, but that can finally start changing this week. Let’s take a look at the standings entering Week 11.
Standings (After Week 10 of 13)
- Grand Canyon Lopes – 41-4, 14-2 MW
- Nevada Wolf Pack – 29-14, 11-5 MW
- UNLV Lady Rebels – 24-18, 11-5 MW
- Fresno State Bulldogs – 19-17, 8-8 MW
- Colorado State Rams – 20-21, 8-8 MW
- New Mexico Lobos – 19-22, 7-9 MW
- San Diego State Aztecs – 21-20, 6-10 MW
- Boise State Broncos – 20-25, 6-10 MW
- Utah State Aggies – 16-26, 5-11 MW
- San Jose State Spartans – 12-27, 4-12 MW
Also, as the title might indicate, this article will have a special section reserved for the permanent resident of the “Ugly” tier. We will get to them shortly,
believe me. For now, let’s take a look at the teams who deserve shoutouts, whether they won or lost this week.
The Good
#20/25 GCU Lopes (41-4, 14-2 MW)
Game Results: 4-0 (2-0 home, 2-0 away)
at Fresno State (19-17) – W, 4-1
at Fresno State (19-17) – W, 6-0
vs. Boise State (20-25) – W, 9-4
vs. Boise State (20-25) – W, 6-1
vs. #23/RV Arizona State (31-13) – TBD
The Lopes wanted to go back where they belonged this week, both here and in the power rankings. They did so by going 4-0, winning each game by at least three runs, growing their lead on the second-place Wolf Pack to three games with just nine to play. The Lopes have one hand on the regular season title, and that fact is unlikely to change going forward. In addition, with just one more conference win, the Lopes will clinch a spot in the conference tournament (if that was ever in doubt).
The Lopes tied Fresno State 15 hits apiece in their Wednesday doubleheader games, but outscored the Bulldogs 10-1 to sweep their western foe. Each of GCU’s five main pitchers saw time, with Taryn Batterton giving up the team’s only run in Game 1, combining for nine strikeouts against just a single walk.
In the Lopes’ weekend series against Boise State, GCU started Game 1 on shaky footing, being tied with the Broncos 2-2 after the top of the fifth. However, in a game that featured a combined six home runs, an Ellie Pond grand slam in the bottom of the sixth allowed the Lopes to turn a close, 5-4 lead into a 9-4 final, allowing the Lopes to become the first team in the NCAA to reach 40 wins this season. Game 2 was much less of a contest, with a Bronco homer in the top of the seventh serving as the lone score of a commanding, 6-1 Lope win.
The Lopes actually had just 28 hits this weekend, but with their relatively low total of 94 at-bats, still returned an average of .298. Pond had a breakout week, going 5-for-12 with eight RBIs, while Jada Cooper was right behind her with a 5-for-11, five RBI line. In the pitching department, all Lope pitchers had a good week, but the star of the show was Natalie Fritz, whose 7.1 innings of 5-strikeout, scoreless work earned Fritz her first Mountain West Pitcher of the Week award.
Once the Lopes complete their week with a crucial rivalry matchup against Arizona State, they will head to San Diego for what was supposed to be a matchup of conference contenders with the Aztecs. Fortunately for the Lopes, SDSU is a complete joke this season, so a team of GCU’s caliber should have zero issues with sweeping the Aztecs off the face of the map.
UNLV Lady Rebels (24-18, 11-5 MW)
Game Results: 4-0 (2-0 home, 2-0 away)
at New Mexico (19-22) – W, 8-4
at New Mexico (19-22) – W, 3-2
vs. Utah State (16-25) – W, 7-4
vs. Utah State (16-25) – W, 12-8
UNLV is absolutely the biggest surprise of the 2026 season. The Rebels also went 4-0 this week, sweeping New Mexico in Albuquerque and taking both against Utah State at home. None of the victories were very impressive, but being tied with rival Nevada for second in the conference standings most certainly is. With nine games left to play, UNLV is five games up on the tournament cut line with tiebreakers over two of the four teams below it, almost certain to get a chance to crash the Wolf Pack’s tournament hosting debut.
Game 1 against the Lobos was an 8-4 win that was never as close as the final score would indicate (UNLV jumped out to an 8-1 lead before coasting the rest of the way). Game 2 was a back-and-forth affair, with the Rebels breaking a 2-2 tie in the sixth on a Mantha Hatzenbeller homer. Yanina Sherwood got out the last six batters she faced in a row, keeping the score at 3-2 for yet another Rebel win.
The Utah State games were each offensive duels where the Rebels always had an answer for the Aggies. In each game, UNLV never trailed after an inning, even when the Aggies scored three or more runs in an inning. Game 2 was far closer than it looked, as UNLV led 12-6 entering the top of the seventh, only to allow two Aggie runs, with the bases still loaded and only one out. Lauren Fettic clutched up after that, forcing back-to-back outs against a hard-hitting Aggie lineup to clinch an undefeated week.
Hatzenbeller had a week to remember, going 6-for-14 with two home runs and seven RBIs. She was joined by Rachel Cook, who went 6-for-10 with two RBIs, at the top of the hitting leaderboard. UNLV combined for 37 hits (.339 average), as their bats continued to fire on all cylinders. As for UNLV pitching, Fettic was very likely in contention for MW Pitcher of the Week. In 11.2 innings of work, Fettic gave up just one earned run against six strikeouts and four walks. Meanwhile, Sherwood had a much larger workload (15.1 IP), giving up 10 earned runs and recording the win in three of the four games.
After a fantastic week of UNLV softball, the Rebels begin their toughest stretch of conference play, starting this weekend with the first half of a two-week road trip to face Boise State. The Broncos are coming off of a 2-2 week where they swept the Aggies in Logan, then got swept by the Lopes in Phoenix. Boise State is 6-10 in conference play, desperately needing to pick up wins by any means necessary. With each of these teams’ inconsistent pitching cores, this should shake up to be a fun series with a lot of scoring. UNLV should win this series at the very least, but a Bronco upset would not surprise me in the slightest.
The Bad
Utah State Aggies (16-26, 5-11 MW)
Game Results: 0-5 (0-3 home, 0-2 away)
vs. Boise State (20-25) – L, 11-6
vs. Boise State (20-25) – L, 13-2 (5 innings)
at UNLV (24-18) – L, 7-4
at UNLV (24-18) – L, 12-8
vs. #1/1 Texas Tech (41-3) – L, 17-7 (5 innings)
at Weber State (13-32) – TBD
Utah State’s 0-5 record this week means they were really the only team that could go here. The Aggies weren’t always terrible, and there was some good to go over, but this season is all but dead now, sadly.
Both Boise State games on Wednesday did not go well for the Aggies. In the first, the Broncos got out to a 7-1 lead, the Aggies briefly considered a comeback, but BSU pulled away in the end to secure an 11-6 win. In Game 2, the Aggies took a 2-1 lead at the end of the first inning, but the bats were fully quieted after that. Boise State scored eight runs in the top of the sixth, securing an easy run-rule victory, and a sweep over the home team.
Both UNLV games over the weekend were similar to each other as well. Utah State never once led against the Rebels after an inning, never really keeping either game close despite what the final scores would indicate. Even when the Aggies scored four runs in the top of the fifth in Game 1 to take a 4-3 lead, USU’s horrific pitching staff immediately allowed four runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. UNLV easily swept Utah State without too much effort.
As for the Aggies’ historic home game on Monday against consensus #1 Texas Tech, Utah State actually made things competitive, using a seven-run sixth inning, including a grand slam by Kya Pratt, to stunningly take the lead on the top-ranked Lady Raiders, 7-6. Unfortunately, through a combination of Texas Tech deciding to stop playing with their food, along with the Aggies’ pitching staff reminding everyone how awful they are, the Raiders scored a hilariously unfortunate 11 runs in the top of the sixth, going from losing to winning via run-rule in the span of one inning. Credit is due for the Aggies’ insane level of fight here, but my word, is their pitching staff horrible.
Kate Vance went 8-for-16 on the week to lead the Aggies in hits, while Pratt (7-for-16) and Faith Kroening (7-for-20) also recorded an impressive number of hits while each leading the team with 7 RBIs. The Aggies racked up 45 hits on the week (.319 average), but that did not matter at all when stacked up against their horrific pitching staff, which put out an ERA of 11.67 this week. No more context for why the Aggies keep losing is needed with a number like that.
Utah State will host San Jose State this weekend in a battle of the worst teams in the conference, then cap the weekend with a trip down to Orem for a battle with rival Utah Valley. I would say this would result in a 2-2 week for the Aggies, but given what SJSU just did to San Diego State, I’d say 1-3 is a more realistic expectation for the Aggies and their “pitching staff.” Speaking of the Aztecs…
The Aztecs
San Diego State Aztecs (21-20, 6-10 MW)
Game Results: 1-3 (0-2 home, 1-1 away)
vs. Nevada (29-14) – L, 7-4
vs. Nevada (29-14) – L, 13-2 (5 innings)
at San Jose State (12-27) – W, 6-1
at San Jose State (12-27) – L, 8-0 (5 innings)
Now we finally get to talk about the Aztecs: the biggest disappointment of the 2026 season. What is there even to say at this point? San Diego State deserves their own namesake tier, because no other team has been as consistently disappointing, lousy, and outright abysmal as the Aztecs have over the last few weeks. They continue to find new ways to get worse, and that certainly held true this week, as this was undoubtedly their worst week in a season full of lows. “The Ugly” is simply no longer a good enough name for a tier this disaster of a team is in.
SDSU started the week with a Wednesday doubleheader against Nevada. In Game 1, the Aztecs led the majority of the way, but left an absurd 12 runners on base to the Wolf Pack’s five. Nevada was able to get to Ava Schaffel in the bottom of the sixth with two solo homers, but the Aztecs retook the lead in the bottom of the sixth, 4-3. Key-annah Pu’a was then put into the game for the seventh, completely blowing the game by allowing four Nevada runs. Now trailing 7-4, the Aztecs got two on with one out, but Nevada forced a routine groundout that turned into a game-ending double play at home due to Lala Macario’s inexplicable decision to try to run from second base to home on a play that did not leave the infield.
Pu’a continued her excellent run of form in Game 2, allowing five runs in the second inning, all while the bats struggled to get a single hit. Nevada scored at least two runs off of every pitcher the Aztecs threw at them, running away with a 13-2, run-rule victory. It may have only been two games, but this was the first time the Aztecs have ever been swept by the Wolf Pack, much less at home.
Next on the docket was a trip to San Jose for a Saturday doubleheader against the Spartans. The Aztecs needed a five-run seventh inning to break a 1-1 tie, narrowly taking Game 1 of the series. Struggling against a team that had lost 11 of their last 12 games is never great, but what’s even worse is what happened in Game 2: San Diego State, the four-time defending MW champions, got run-ruled by the worst team in the conference. SJSU led 3-0 in the fifth inning, but the game had to be delayed until it could be finished on Sunday. Naturally, Faith Jordan and Matti Kwarta couldn’t even combine for two outs, ending the game after giving up five more runs. Complete and utter humiliation.
I could go into the team’s hitting stats, their total lack of performance with runners in scoring position, or how terrible each and every pitcher was, but quite frankly, I do not see the point. Talking about this team is a complete waste of time. There are no positives, there is no excellence, and there is nobody performing well enough to give a shoutout to. With just nine games left to play, San Diego State, in their last year in the MW, is on the verge of completely missing the conference tournament, an unimaginable scenario just a few weeks ago. “Too good for the Mountain West.” Yeah, right.
The Aztecs host Grand Canyon this weekend for what was supposed to be a matchup between top contenders, but is now anything but. Given what the Wolf Pack just did to the Aztecs in San Diego, I cannot imagine a single scenario where the Aztecs are even close to winning in any of the three games. 0-3 is the standard here now. What a sentence to write.
