Valentine’s Day has come and gone, and there wasn’t an abundance of love to go around in the performances of the 10 MWC softball teams, with only four teams achieving a record at or above .500 on the week. Heading into the third week of the season, several teams in the conference will have opportunities to bolster their resumes. Six of the conference’s teams will face at least one ranked opponent in Week 3. Some will face their Goliaths at the prestigious Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral
City, California, while others will have schedules just as tough, without much of the prestige that comes with it. With all that being said, let’s take a look at how each team stacks up entering Week 3.
1. #RV/RV Grand Canyon Lopes (10-0)
Last Week: #1
This Week’s Games:
vs. San Diego (Feb. 19, 4:30 p.m. MT, Mountain West Network)
vs. Montana (Feb. 20, 5:00 p.m. MT, Mountain West Network)
vs. #RV/NR North Florida (Feb. 20, 7:30 p.m. MT, Mountain West Network)
vs. UC Santa Barbara (Feb. 21, 6:30 p.m. MT, Mountain West Network)
vs. UC Santa Barbara (Feb. 22, 12:00 p.m. MT, Mountain West Network)
vs. Montana (Feb. 22, 2:30 p.m. MT, Mountain West Network)
It really is getting difficult to come up with new ways to say “this team is really, really good” over and over again. Missing star hitter Savannah Kirk for the second week in a row, the Lopes still managed to advance to 10-0 for the first time in school history.
Freshman Addison Shifflett had a breakout week at the plate, hitting 7-for-15 (.467) with 3 RBIs, an outing that earned her MWC Freshman of the Week honors. Alina Satcher, meanwhile, continued her tear, hitting a grand slam against Northern Colorado and tallying 5 total RBIs, now leading the team overall with 12.
It was in the circle where GCU showed their true might. The Lopes have now allowed a total team ERA of 1.06 through 10 games, far and away the best in the conference and third-best in the country behind Tennessee and Alabama. Taryn Batterton continues to look like the real Pitcher of the Year, as she still has yet to give up a single run, earned or otherwise, through 20.2 innings. She was backed up by Oakley Vickers, who only allowed two earned runs in her 10.1 innings, and by Natalie Fritz, who recorded a complete game shutout in the Lopes’ 1-0 win over South Dakota.
Grand Canyon looks like they are somehow even better than they have been in previous years. It still remains to be seen how they will perform against their tougher late-season slate, but the ease with which they have crushed everyone in their path up to this point is not something to be taken lightly.
2. #RV/RV San Diego State Aztecs (8-2)
Last Week: #2
This Week’s Games:
vs. #5/4 Oklahoma (Feb. 19, 8:00 p.m. PT, FloCollege)
vs. UC Riverside (Feb. 20, 3:00 p.m. PT, FloCollege)
vs. Saint Mary’s (Feb. 20, 5:30 p.m. PT, FloCollege)
vs. Seattle U (Feb. 21, 9:30 a.m. PT, FloCollege)
vs. #2/2 Texas Tech (Feb. 21, 2:30 p.m. PT, FloCollege)
Also known as “Clutch City,” San Diego State has won eight games this season, five of which have been on walkoffs. The Aztecs have not been blowing the doors off of their opponents, but they always somehow find a way to win.
Jade Ignacio has been the driving force of that success, hitting .514 with 10 RBIs to this point in the season, including two of those five walkoffs. Ignacio has a massive lead in team batting average over Jazmin Williams (.382) and Olivia Gigante (.310), the latter of whom has tallied 9 RBIs of her own, including a three-run moonshot to take down Oregon State in extras.
The Aztecs currently hold a team ERA of 2.78, which ranks second in the conference behind GCU. Most of this can be attributed to Fresno State transfer Key-annah Pu’a, who holds an ERA of 1.45 with 11 strikeouts across her 19.1 innings of play this season.
The Aztecs may not be flashy, they may not always look great, but one thing that cannot be denied is that this team simply knows how to win. That is the reason why the Aztecs have won four consecutive conference titles, and it’s why they should be considered a favorite to win it all once again.
3. Nevada Wolf Pack (6-5)
Last Week: #4
This Week’s Games:
vs. Oregon State (Feb. 19, 12:30 p.m. PT, FloCollege)
vs. California (Feb. 20, 12:30 p.m. PT, FloCollege)
vs. #9/11 UCLA (Feb. 20, 3:30 p.m. PT, FloCollege)
vs. UC Riverside (Feb. 21, 10:00 a.m. PT, FloCollege)
Whereas the Aztecs have rightfully earned the nickname “Clutch City,” the Wolf Pack are pretty much the exact opposite of that, consistently letting statement wins against top teams slip away. The Wolf Pack went 3-3 last week, losing to #22 Arizona State, #15 Arizona, and Indiana, splitting with the Hoosiers in their second game. Those are some great losses, but that fact feels about as hollow as a corked bat.
Nevada had a combined eight errors in their three losses, six of which were in the games against the Arizona schools, allowing an abhorrent six runs in games the Wolf Pack lost by a combined three runs. They blew 4-0 and 6-4 leads against ASU, a 7-5 lead against UA, and grounded into double plays to end their losses to IU and UA, the latter of which was with the bases loaded.
Yes, the Wolf Pack were missing star freshman Katie Wetteland, but no excuse exists for arguably being better than your top-tier opponent in five separate games this season, yet somehow still losing all five. At this point, it doesn’t feel like the stats matter all that much when describing this team. The Wolf Pack’s collective confidence looks absolutely shot from enduring heartbreaking loss after heartbreaking loss.
In particular, Hailey McLean looks borderline skittish in the circle, so much so that Coach Victoria Hayward felt compelled to state on Arizona State’s broadcast that Mac “needs to know that she’s still good.” That is a damning statement to make about your team’s star pitcher, and it gives me little confidence for this team as a whole going forward.
The Wolf Pack are definitely far ahead of the teams below them on this list, save for maybe the Aggies, but they should be so much better than their 6-5 record. The Wolf Pack needs a statement victory more than they need water or air at this point.
They will have three final chances to nab one, the first of which is this week at the Mary Nutter Classic against #9 UCLA. After that, only two games against Oregon in the Jane Sanders Classic remain. If they can’t pull any of these off, I shudder to think about what will happen if this team finishes nonconference play with an 0-7 record against ranked opponents. For the players’ sake, I hope it doesn’t come to that.
4. Utah State Aggies (7-3)
Last Week: #6
This Week’s Games:
vs. #17/20 Virginia Tech (Feb. 20, 11:00 a.m. MT, coverage not provided)
at #16/12 Georgia (Feb. 20, 4:00 p.m. MT, coverage not provided)
vs. Seton Hall (Feb. 21, 11:00 a.m. MT, coverage not provided)
at. #16/12 Georgia (Feb. 21, 4:00 p.m. MT, coverage not provided)
vs. Seton Hall (Feb. 22, 8:30 a.m. MT, coverage not provided)
Utah State may not be playing great competition, but the Aggies are more than on pace to catch their white whale: a record over .500. The Aggies went 3-2 this week, losing in extras to a good Loyola Marymount team and splitting with another good team in Hawai’i.
USU currently leads the conference in batting average with a stellar .321. They are led in this regard by the indomitable Alex Bunton, whose .516 batting average leads the Mountain West. Sophomore Faith Kroening joins her in being an impossible out, hitting .455 so far.
Surprisingly, the Aggies have shown an incredible amount of improvement in the circle compared to last year. Projected leader Emmalyn Brinka been the workhorse pitcher so far, tallying a 2.76 ERA in 25.1 innings. However, Brinka has taken a bit of a backseat in notoriety thus far to freshman phenom Kendall Cochran, who holds an ERA of 1.66 in her 12.2 innings of action. Just don’t look too far into the Aggies’ bullpen, as you will find out very quickly why they still rank 7th in the conference in ERA.
The Aggies finally have their first very difficult MTE this week, with three ranked opponents awaiting them at the Georgia Classic. 2-3 is the baseline for the Aggies here. Any better is beyond amazing, any worse will be a disappointment.
5. Boise State Broncos (6-5)
Last Week: #3
This Week’s Games:
vs. #15/16 Arizona (Feb. 19, 3:00 p.m. MT, coverage not provided)
vs. Santa Clara (Feb. 20, 12:00 p.m. MT, coverage not provided)
vs. #3/3 Texas (Feb. 21, 4:00 p.m. MT, coverage not provided)
at #12/10 Stanford (Feb. 21, 7:00 p.m. MT, ACC Network+)
at #12/10 Stanford (Feb. 22, 1:30 p.m. MT, ACC Network+)
A week after upsetting #14 Ole Miss to nab the conference’s best win on the season, Boise State came crashing back down to Earth at the USD/UCSD Classic, losing their final three games in a row after a shaky 2-0 start. Yes, one of those losses was to D1Softball’s #1-ranked mid-major team, Omaha, but getting swept by a 5-6 Southern Utah team is horrible, there’s no way around it.
The Broncos are currently mid-pack in most major stats in the conference, including being 4th overall in batting average with .303. Junior Skylar Stroh is having a major breakout so far, hitting .424 with 8 RBIs, the latter stat being tied for the team lead with Kate Penberthy and Mya Flindt, each of whom lead the team with three homers apiece.
The Broncos rank 5th in team ERA with 3.16, though that number is slightly deceiving, since the Broncos seem to have come across a three-headed pitching monster of freshmen Loula-Rae McNamara and Charley Duran, along with sophomore Julianne Rose, with each having an ERA of below 2.00 through at least 14 innings.
The young Broncos will have their hardest test of the nonconference slate this week, heading to Stanford’s famous DeMarini Invitational, where they will play four games against top-15 opponents, including #3 Texas, as well as a fifth game against a Santa Clara team that reached the NCAA Tournament in 2025. This will be a daunting task for this team, I would not be surprised if Boise State went 0-5 here, but considering they already beat a top 15 team this year, I won’t be counting out the Broncos in any game they play.
6. Fresno State Bulldogs (3-4)
Last Week: #5
This Week’s Games:
vs. #2/2 Texas Tech (Feb. 19, 3:30 p.m. PT, FloCollege)
vs. California (Feb. 20, 10:00 a.m. PT, FloCollege)
vs. Cal Baptist (Feb. 20, 12:30 p.m. PT, FloCollege)
vs. #9/11 UCLA (Feb. 21, 3:00 p.m. PT, FloCollege)
Fresno State was a team I gave a lot of credit to before the season, but it really does seem as if the luster has fully worn off of this once-legendary program. Bulldogs teams of the past would not have dreamed of getting swept at home by Washington, much less while only scoring a single run all series.
Unfortunately for Bulldogs fans, this team does not look equipped to do much right now, outside of the circle, perhaps. CSUN transfer Lauryn Carranco holds an ERA of 1.88 and has recorded 15 strikeouts, while the Bulldogs as a whole have a team ERA of 3.09, ranking 4th in the conference behind its probable top three teams.
It’s at the plate where the Bulldogs have a problem. Jamie Hicks and Jerzie Liana are both hitting .450 or better, with the former holding a team-high OPS of 1.114. The Bulldogs’ team batting average of .292 doesn’t seem too bad, either, especially considering their total is just behind that of Nevada. However, Fresno State’s biggest issue is not in hitting, it’s in scoring. The Bulldogs currently have just 22 total RBIs on the season, ranking 9th in the conference. Now, yes, the ‘Dogs have played three fewer games than any other team in the conference, but on the pace they are on, they would have 31 total RBIs, which would only rank 8th. You cannot win games without scoring, and the Bulldogs’ situational softball is severely lacking.
Fresno State will have another tough slate at the Mary Nutter, facing off against #9 UCLA and #2 Texas Tech, so they will need to figure out these issues against stiff competition. At the very least, Fresno State just has to figure out one side of the game. That benefit of the doubt cannot be given to these next few teams.
7. Colorado State Rams (4-6)
Last Week: #7
This Week’s Games:
at Texas State (Feb. 20, 3:00 p.m. MT, ESPN+)
vs. #24/19 Oklahoma State (Feb. 20, 5:30 p.m. MT, coverage not provided)
vs. Kansas City (Feb. 21, 12:30 p.m. MT, coverage not provided)
vs. Brown (Feb. 21, 5:30 p.m. MT, coverage not provided)
at Texas State (Feb. 22, 11:15 a.m. MT, ESPN+)
I think that it’s pretty safe to say that Colorado State is better than I thought they would be. A 1-4 week, featuring a loss to a previously winless Utah Tech squad, is certainly sub-optimal, but all but one of their losses was by two runs or fewer. They aren’t a horrible team, they just got the short end of the stick this week. It happens.
Colorado State has a total team batting average of .278, good for 7th in the conference. Their top four hitters (Lauren Stucky, Allyson Moody, Kyra Smith, Jailey Wilson) are hitting above .3oo, with all but Moody having an OPS of above 1.000. Outside of those four, nobody else has hit better than .263. That will have to change for the Rams to actually start scoring some runs.
As for the circle, the Rams had some problems this week that they had avoided quite well in Week 1. Reagan Wick, who held a 0.00 ERA after the first week, was far worse in Week 2, her ERA ballooning to 1.81 while recording just 7 strikeouts, down from 16 the week before. The rest of the team’s pitchers followed suit, with the overall mark going from 2.o6, which ranked 3rd, to 3.50, which now ranks 6th.
Colorado State has their only tough MTE this week, facing ranked Oklahoma State and having two games against future Pac-12 rival Texas State, a current mid-major power. The Brown and Kansas City games are very winnable, so I would say a 2-3 record would signal a successful week for the Rams.
8. New Mexico Lobos (3-7)
Last Week: #8
This Week’s Games:
at UTEP (Feb. 18, 2:00 p.m. MT, ESPN+)
at Abilene Christian (Feb. 20, 12:00 p.m. MT, WAC International)
at Abilene Christian (Feb. 21, 2:00 p.m. MT, WAC International)
at Abilene Christian (Feb. 22, 11:00 a.m. MT, WAC International)
To this point in the season, none of my predictions have aged quite as poorly as saying the Lobos would make the conference tournament this season. What’s sad about this is that the Lobos do have the pieces needed to be good on one side of the ball, but nothing is coming together at all on the other.
Briana Williams is the only Lobo hitter that started the season doing anything, hitting .500 through the first seven games of the season. But after a 1-for-10 implosion over the Lobos’ last three games, Williams’ average has plummeted to .346, which still far outpaces the team’s second best hitter, Miracle McKenzie (.250). The Lobos hold a completely abysmal .193 average, last in the conference, and their 20 total RBIs ranks tied for 268th in the country.
Meanwhile, the Lobos’ pitching staff is not terribly constructed, but they nonetheless are having a rough start to the year, recording a team ERA of 3.92, only ahead of the two teams ranked lower than them on this list. McKenna Guest and Caitlin Benningfield are both recording high strikeout numbers (14 and 17, respectively), but both have ERAs just below 3.50, which is not great for your two leading pitchers.
New Mexico just looks lost, as each of their three wins this season have come against Northwestern State. They also have a unique schedule of four true road games this week. Three are at 0-11 Abilene Christian, and the other is at Rio Grande Valley rival UTEP, who may be 6-6, but lost their last game on their home field to #3 Oklahoma by a humiliating final score of 34-0. This is a surprisingly winnable slate for the Lobos—if only they can score more than two runs a game.
9. UNLV Lady Rebels (3-7)
Last Week: #10
This Week’s Games:
vs. Valparaiso (Feb. 19, 6:00 p.m. PT, Mountain West Network)
vs. Utah Valley (Feb. 20, 3:00 p.m. PT, Mountain West Network)
vs. Idaho State (Feb. 21, 3:00 p.m. PT, Mountain West Network)
vs. Merrimack (Feb. 21, 6:00 p.m. PT, Mountain West Network)
vs. Merrimack (Feb. 22, 2:30 p.m. PT, Mountain West Network)
Now we get to the two teams buried deep in the basement in every single notable stat category. UNLV at the very least has three wins, even if two of those are against Quinnipiac, hence why they have moved above the Spartans this week. Nonetheless, having the luxury of playing a whopping 20 of your nonconference games at home, and still being 3-7 through 10 of those games, is highly concerning.
At the plate, UNLV may be ranked 8th in batting average, but their mark of .274 is not very far off of the teams ranking 2nd-7th. Diamond Sefe, Taryn Calderon, Keyannah Chavez, and Bri Williams are each hitting above .360, and all have an OPS above 1.100. Williams leads the Rebels with 13 total RBIs, and UNLV actually ranks third in the conference with 47 total RBIs.
The bigger problem for UNLV at the moment is their pitching staff, which is the area I expected them to be best in. UNLV’s 4.43 team ERA ranks second-worst in the conference, only ahead of the hapless Spartans. Outside of Emma Wardlaw, whose ERA of 2.53 is good, but not all too spectacular, both Lauren Fettic and projected All-MWC Teamer Yanina Sherwood have looked dreadful in all appearances this season, not just in their starts. Not to mention the fact that UNLV is the most error-ridden team in the conference, tallying an absurd 21 total errors this season so far.
UNLV is decent at the plate, bad in the circle, and truly atrocious defensively. Truly a winning combination indeed. The Rebs have another relatively easy home series this week to try and get things right, but that has been true about each series they have hosted so far, and they are still 3-7. UNLV is officially not a very good team, and I don’t really see much of a way for that to improve over the rest of the season. But no matter what happens from here on out, UNLV turned all of their social media comments back on this week. I think we can call that a win.
10. San Jose State Spartans (1-9)
Last Week: #9
This Week’s Games:
vs. Manhattan (Feb. 20, 12:00 p.m. PT, coverage not provided)
vs. Sacramento State (Feb. 20, 2:30 p.m. PT, coverage not provided)
vs. Manhattan (Feb. 21, 2:30 p.m. PT, coverage not provided)
vs. Pacific (Feb. 22, 12:00 p.m. PT, coverage not provided)
at Cal Poly (Feb. 22, 2:30 p.m. PT, ESPN+)
I gave SJSU a lot of credit for their performance in their brutal season-opening MTE, going 1-4 but being competitive against a brutal schedule. Unfortunately, the Spartans followed up that praise by going 0-5 in their next MTE, both against worse competition and at home.
Don’t get me wrong, San Jose State is not without talent. Reina Zermeno (.400, 1.075 OPS) and Ahmiya Noriega (.357) have served as shining lights in the darkness this season, while Sophia Burdick, Sarah Deplitch (RBI leader, 7), and Shay McDowell have all contributed in their own right. Even with those five contributing on a semi-regular basis, the entire lineup has recorded just 27 RBIs this season, which ranks 250th in the country.
As for the pitching staff, for the sake of not picking on anybody, I’ll just say that Norah Coulsell has been a pleasant surprise for this pitching staff, and her team-leading ERA is still just 3.77. It shouldn’t be a surprise, then, that SJSU has the worst ERA in the conference by far, at an abysmal 6.66.
San Jose State has a very easy MTE this week, as every team aside from Sacramento State is, at best, mediocre to start the season. With their pitching staff being as bad as it is, I doubt they are able to fully take advantage of this fact, and the struggle bus will likely continue right on schedule.
