Week 1 of the 2026 NCAA Softball season brought the teams in the Mountain West Conference an interesting set of performances. Even this early in the season, several of my preseason predictions have immediately
aged like milk. That being said, I think it’s time to see what has changed from my preseason rankings, and what each team’s outlook is heading into their Valentine’s Day weekend games.
1. RV/RV Grand Canyon Lopes (5-0)
Last Week: #1
This Week’s Games:
vs. Northern Colorado (Feb. 13, 4:00 p.m. MT, Mountain West Network)
vs. Sacramento State (Feb. 13, 6:30 p.m. MT, Mountain West Network)
vs. South Dakota (Feb. 14, 2:30 p.m. MT, Mountain West Network)
vs. Northern Colorado (Feb. 14, 5:00 p.m. MT, Mountain West Network)
vs. Harvard (Feb. 15, 11:30 a.m. MT, Mountain West Network)
Despite being without projected Player of the Year Savannah Kirk due to injury, the Lopes still managed to become the conference’s last remaining undefeated team by going 5-0 at the GCU Kickoff Classic. That is a terrifying sentence to write. GCU certainly did not have a comfortable path to 5-0, with all but one game having a margin of victory between one and three runs, and two games ending on walkoff wild pitches.
In Kirk’s absence, junior Alina Satcher exploded onto the scene, hitting .357 with two home runs and seven RBIs, all of which came in the Lopes’ 17-2 drubbing of Southern Utah. Satcher, along with Mackenzie Nolan and Tinley Lucas, each recorded an OPS above 1.000, while Haley Wilkinson tied Satcher in total RBIs with seven. The Lopes did hit just .305 as a team in their five wins, leaving some definite room to improve, especially once Kirk comes back.
The real stars of the show here were those in the circle. The Lopes turned in a team-wide ERA of 1.27, never allowing more than four runs in any of their games. In particular, senior Taryn Batterton was completely untouchable, throwing two complete game shutouts against Weber State and Santa Clara, along with a conference-high 18 strikeouts. Maggie Place and Oakley Vickers both turned in ERAs lower than 2.00, meaning that it looks like the Lopes will not have a hard time replacing Meghan Golden this season.
Overall, GCU already looks like the best, most complete team in the conference. They won’t exactly be having the toughest of schedules for a while, so the Lopes may be at the top of this list for quite a ways into the season.
2. NR/RV San Diego State Aztecs (3-1)
Last Week: #2
This Week’s Games:
vs. Baylor (Feb. 12, 6:00 p.m. PT, Mountain West Network)
vs. Baylor (Feb. 13, 4:30 p.m. PT, Mountain West Network)
vs. North Dakota (Feb. 13, 7:00 p.m. PT, Mountain West Network)
vs. Fordham (Feb. 14, 2:00 p.m. PT, Mountain West Network)
vs. Oregon State (Feb. 14, 7:00 p.m. PT, Mountain West Network)
vs. Oregon State (Feb. 15, 12:30 p.m. PT, Mountain West Network)
The Aztecs may not have looked perfect at times during their opening invitational, they came out on top of two one-run games against power-conference foes, and many of their players made a big impression on the rest of the conference. The Aztecs were triumphant over Minnesota, Loyola Chicago and Kentucky, while being bested by reigning NCAA Tournament attendee Miami (OH) in a 7-1 loss.
Senior Jade Ignacio recorded a batting average of .636 and an OPS of 1.727, both of which ranked best in the Mountain West, earning herself Mountain West Player of the Week honors. Junior Jazmin Williams was right behind Ignacio with an average of .583 and an OPS of 1.449. Junior Julie Holcomb was third on the team with an average of .417 while also snagging two stolen bases, which ranks second in the MWC.
In the circle, the Aztecs were led by Fresno State transfer Faith Jordan, who recorded an ERA of .81 in her 8.2 innings. Fellow Bulldog transfer Key-annah Pu’a recorded a 2.74 ERA in her first 7.2 innings down south, sophomore Ava Schaffel recorded a 1.75 in her 4.0 innings, and freshman Matti Kwarta recorded a 3.23 ERA while being credited with her first two collegiate wins.
Overall, the Aztecs did have a bad time against the Redhawks, but outside of that game, SDSU looked every bit as good as they were projected to be, being one of two MWC teams that defeated two power conference teams (Nevada was the other). Unlike the Wolf Pack, however, the Aztecs capitalized on the opportunities they had to win in close games. The Aztecs took care of business this week, which is really all they needed to do.
3. Boise State Broncos (4-2)
Last Week: #7
This Week’s Games:
vs. Weber State (Feb. 13, 12:30 p.m. MT, coverage not provided)
vs. Fairleigh Dickinson (Feb. 13, 3:00 p.m. MT, coverage not provided)
vs. Southern Utah (Feb. 14, 3:00 p.m. MT, coverage not provided)
vs. Omaha (Feb. 14, 8:00 p.m. MT, coverage not provided)
vs. Southern Utah (Feb. 15, 10:00 a.m. MT, coverage not provided)
Yeah, so it looks like I was wrong. Boise State, a team I expected to have a very bad season due to a combination of transfers and injuries, immediately went out and had a tournament to remember in Fullerton, going 4-2 with a win over #14/22 Ole Miss, the Broncos’ highest-ranked victory in team history.
Mya Flindt, Quinn Southerland, and Kate Penberthy were the Broncos’ leaders in batting average, with the latter serving as the hero in the game against Ole Miss, hitting a three-run shot that ended up being the game-winner. The Broncos’ team-wide batting average of .322 ranked third in the conference, though that stat was ballooned heavily by their 24-run game against CSUN.
In the circle, the Broncos were led by a trio of freshmen: Kodi Crabtree, Loula-Rae McNamara, and Charley Duran. Crabtree and McNamara recorded ERAs right around 2.00, while Duran put up a MWC Co-Freshman of the Week performance with an ERA of 0.66 in 10.2 innings. The hitting core was already good enough, but Boise State’s mediocre pitching staff from last season has made a complete turnaround thanks to their young arms.
Boise State became the fourth MWC team to appear on the D1Softball Mid-Major Rankings at #15, which is a slot that I do believe undervalues what they accomplished this week. Aside from a dud against LMU, Boise State looked like a team capable of competing with anyone, both inside and outside the conference. That’s more than I can say for a team they were somehow still ranked behind in the Mid-Major Poll.
4. RV/NR Nevada Wolf Pack (3-2)
Last Week: #3
This Week’s Games:
vs. Portland State (Feb. 13, 11:45 a.m. PT, coverage not provided)
at RV/#22 Arizona State (Feb. 13, 5:15 p.m. PT, ESPN+)
vs. NR/RV Indiana (Feb. 14, 9:00 a.m. PT, coverage not provided)
vs. Pacific (Feb. 14, 2:30 p.m. PT, coverage not provided)
vs. NR/RV Indiana (Feb. 15, 9:00 a.m. PT, coverage not provided)
at #17/15 Arizona (Feb. 17, 5:00 p.m. PT, ESPN+)
I was hard on the Wolf Pack in my recap, and I still think the criticism was valid, if for nothing other than how bad their blown games against LSU truly were. While I don’t think the Wolf Pack will be down here in my rankings for long, I could not justify putting them over the Broncos considering what Boise State accomplished this week and just how good they looked while doing it.
During the Tiger Invitational, Nevada had three shutout wins, two run-rule wins, and two wins over power conference teams. This would be a fantastic performance if not for losing twice to host LSU while out-hitting them, and while going a combined 0-for-18 with runners in scoring position. As that last statistic shows, the bottom of Nevada’s lineup is a bit messy at the moment.
The top four of Nevada’s hitting core is rock solid. Madison Clark (.471), Co-Freshman of the Week Katie Wetteland (.462), Saige Alfaro (.462), and Hannah Di Genova (.417) all hit over .400, joined in hitting above a 1.000 OPS by star two-way transfer Talia Tretton and Karolyn Glover. Wetteland immediately looked like a star in the making, hitting 3-for-3 with two home runs and 5 RBIs in her first collegiate game against Illinois.
The Wolf Pack’s pitching staff was largely phenomenal, though the stats don’t necessarily show that at the moment. Ainsley Berlingeri leads the team with an ERA of 2.80, Talia Tretton recorded a 3.50 and Hailey McLean had a 4.06. McLean’s in particular is incredibly deceiving, as she pitched a complete game shutout against Illinois, and had a no-hitter going into the bottom of the 5th inning against LSU, but collapsed once she got close to 110 pitches.
Most people seem to think the Wolf Pack will be fine, and I do as well. They have some issues they need to resolve, but judging by the fact that this team won 41 games a year ago, I think trust can be put in Nevada’s coaching staff to make the necessary changes to succeed. They will have two more opportunities to get a ranked win when they travel to Tempe and Tucson to take on ranked Arizona State and Arizona teams, so we will get to see right away whether the Pack are still a threat to make some noise this season.
5. Fresno State Bulldogs (3-1)
Last Week: #4
This Week’s Games:
vs. NR/#24 Washington (Feb. 13, 4:00 p.m. PT, Mountain West Network)
vs. NR/#24 Washington (Feb. 13, 6:00 p.m. PT, Mountain West Network)
vs. NR/#24 Washington (Feb. 14, 1:00 p.m. PT, Mountain West Network)
Fresno State, meanwhile, had a bit of an odd week, going 3-1 by sweeping projected mid-major contender Idaho State, yet losing at home to SIUE, a team that got run-ruled in each of their other four games at the Fresno State Kickoff Classic.
Despite the embarrassing loss, it was still a very good week for Fresno State. The Bulldogs currently lead the MWC in batting average with a team-wide mark of .359, and are second in the conference in ERA with a mark of 1.75. Jerzie Liana leads the team in batting average, hitting .583 with a team-leading 5 RBIs, while Lauryn Carranco, who transfered from CSUN with coach Charlotte Morgan, has recorded two full-game shutouts in her two starts this season. Freshman Alyssa Loza is not far behind Carranco, recording an ERA of 0.64 win her 11 innings of work.
The Bulldogs look like a very sound team so far, but they do have the luxury of only having played a good team (who they swept), and one very bad team (who they split with). They do not have that luxury with this week’s slate: a true home series against a ranked Washington Huskies squad. The Huskies are coming off of a 2-3 weekend at the UTSA Invitational where they lost their three games to #1 Texas and #9 Nebraska by a combined 13 runs, while also beating the Cornhuskers in their rematch. The Huskies are a fantastic team with a not-so-fantastic record, and are sure to be motivated by that fact. This should be a fantastic series, I look forward to seeing what the ‘Dogs can do.
6. Utah State Aggies (4-1)
Last Week: #6
This Week’s Games:
vs. Saint Francis (Feb. 13, 9:30 a.m. MT, coverage not provided)
vs. Loyola Marymount (Feb. 13, 12:15 p.m. MT, coverage not provided)
vs. Hawaii (Feb. 14, 9:30 a.m. MT, coverage not provided)
vs. CSU Bakersfield (Feb. 14, 12:15 p.m. MT, coverage not provided)
vs. Hawaii (Feb. 15, 3:45 p.m. MT, coverage not provided)
Utah State had a solid at the Aggie Classic last weekend, beating each of the bad teams they faced while getting run-ruled by host #11 Texas A&M. Overall, they did exactly what was expected of them, which is more than I can say for anyone sitting behind them on this list.
The Aggies currently sit in the top half of the conference in both batting average and ERA, ranking second in the former category with a team-wide mark of .325. Faith Kroening, who didn’t do much as a freshman with the Aggies last season, now looks like the clear heir to Tatum Silva, hitting a conference-runnerup mark of .615 through five games, all with only one hit larger than a single. Senior Alex Bunton is right behind her with a mark of .583 and a team-leading OPS of 1.500. This is a top-heavy lineup so far, as only Kaylee Erickson and Arizona transfer Kate Vance have hit marks above .325, with the rest of the team that have taken more than three at-bats falling below .250.
In the circle, Utah State’s league-basement pitching staff looks a lot better so far. Emmalyn Brinka looks like an All-MWC type pitcher so far, with her 14 innings resulting in a 0.50 ERA to this point while also recording 17 strikeouts, second-best in the conference behind Taryn Batterton. Freshman Kendall Cochran also looks good, but Brinka is currently the only pitcher on the roster with more than 7 innings of work so far, so others will have to step up to not wear out their leading arm.
I think the Aggies are right on track to get where they want to go: a season finishing above .500. They just need to take care of business during their manageable nonconference slate, which is exactly what they did last week.
7. Colorado State Rams (3-2)
Last Week: #9
This Week’s Games:
vs. Utah Tech (Feb. 13, 3:00 p.m. MT, coverage not provided)
at San Diego (Feb. 13, 8:00 p.m. MT, coverage not provided)
vs. Fairleigh Dickinson (Feb. 14, 12:30 p.m. MT, coverage not provided)
at UC San Diego (Feb. 14, 8:00 p.m. MT, ESPN+)
at UC San Diego (Feb. 15, 3:00 p.m. MT, coverage not provided)
The Rams were a bit of a surprise to me last week. They lost to two OK-level teams in Saint Mary’s and San Diego, while also currently serving as the only loss for a much-improved Sac State team, on the Hornets’ home field, no less. I think the Rams have taken a big step up this season.
Colorado State, a team that nearly broke several conference records for ineptitude in the circle in 2025, currently holds the third-best overall ERA in the conference with a mark of 2.06. Most of this can be credited to the ascension of junior Reagan Wick, who has recorded two complete-game shutouts so far this season, while ranking third in the conference with 16 strikeouts. Second starter Andrea Jaskowiak looks like she is already comfortable in her new home, recording a 2.62 ERA with 12 strikeouts thus far. Those two alone put the Rams second in the conference in strikeouts behind the Lopes.
The Rams don’t look quite as good at the plate, combining for a team-wide average of .281, seventh in the conference. Sophomore power hitter Kyra Smith has looked great so far, hitting an average of .529 with two doubles, a home run, and 4 RBIs. Sophomore speedster Lauren Stucky ranked just behind Smith with a .438 average.
The Rams have a very easy nonconference slate, only facing one power conference team in nonconference play, so the level of competition they have performed well against so far will be their main competition until they get into MWC play. If they continue to look like they did in the Norcal Kickoff (Reagan Wick, especially), the Rams could easily be a sneaky mid-tier team that upsets some major contenders late in the year.
8. New Mexico Lobos (2-3)
Last Week: #5
This Week’s Games:
vs. Louisiana Tech (Feb. 13, 1:00 p.m. MT, coverage not provided)
at RV/RV Southeastern Louisiana (Feb. 13, 3:00 p.m. MT, coverage not provided)
vs. Northwestern State (Feb. 14, 2:00 p.m. MT, coverage not provided)
vs. Nicholls (Feb. 14, 4:00 p.m. MT, coverage not provided)
vs. Sam Houston (Feb. 15, 9:00 a.m. MT, coverage not provided)
New Mexico disappointed me this week, and it wasn’t really because of their 2-3 record. Rather, the Lobos look like they have serious issues at the plate right now, and they need to fix them fast. Outside of the Lobos’ first game against Baylor, where they lost an 8-7 heartbreaker, New Mexico proceeded to score a combined six runs in their next four games.
New Mexico currently holds a dreadful .182 team batting average, by far the worst in the conference. Briana Williams is the only player on the Lobos’ roster that holds a batting average of over .300, as her mark of .455 is a huge outlier. The nine batters outside of Williams to take at least six at-bats so far hold a ghastly combined average of .156.
The pitching staff has really showed improvement so far over last season. The team has a combined ERA of 3.33, though they have had three games where they allowed one or fewer runs. As expected, McKenna Guest has been the primary starter thus far, recording an ERA of 2.19 over her conference-high 16 innings, while freshman Caitlin Benningfield has been great so far with an ERA of 2.71 in 10.1 innings. This team’s overall ERA is being heavily ballooned by the 42.00 ERA recorded by Caprice Barela in her 0.2 innings.
New Mexico looks like they have a pitching staff that can contend with anybody, while also having a hitting core that cannot content with anyone. Hopefully, for Lobo fans’ sake, they get this sorted out soon, but their batting average so far really is quite concerning.
9. San Jose State Spartans (1-4)
Last Week: #10
This Week’s Games:
vs. UC Santa Barbara (Feb. 13, 2:30 p.m. PT, Mountain West Network)
vs. Illinois State (Feb. 13, 5:00 p.m. PT, Mountain West Network)
vs. Illinois State (Feb. 14, 2:30 p.m. PT, Mountain West Network)
vs. Utah (Feb. 14, 5:00 p.m. PT, Mountain West Network)
vs. NR/#24 Washington (Feb. 15, 9:00 a.m. PT, Mountain West Network)
Projected by everyone to be the worst team in the conference this season, San Jose State was quite a pleasant surprise in Week 1. Don’t get me wrong, they weren’t exactly what one would call “good,” but the Spartans were not nearly as bad as I thought they would be. SJSU went 1-4, run-ruling ACC rival Cal and being competitive in the rematch against the Golden Bears, as well as one of their games against ranked Stanford.
The Spartans turned in the 8th-best batting average in the conference in Week 1, hitting .273 on average; however, that average is dragged down significantly by the 0-for-11 Taylor Chillingworth. Freshman Sophia Burdick has immediately shown that she is one of the conference’s best hitters, hitting .543 with a home run and an OPS of 1.402. Ahmiya Noriega, Shay McDowell, Reina Zermeno, and Sarah Deplitch all hit over the .300 mark, the latter leading the team in RBIs with five.
While the Spartans performed well at the plate, their performance in the circle was absolutely abysmal, turning in a team ERA of a dreadful 8.08, tied for 226th out of 264 Division 1 teams, and a total of just five strikeouts, both the worst in the conference by far. Freshman Norah Coulsell was the only decent pitcher in the rotation, posting an ERA of 4.46 in 11 innings of work.
Overall, while the Spartans were definitely better in a ridiculously tough invitational than I thought they would be, but I still do not think they are a very good team. With that being said, the Spartans were at least competitive in three of their five games, all against good teams, which is far more than I can say about our final team.
10. UNLV Rebels (1-4)
Last Week: #8
This Week’s Games:
vs. UC Davis (Feb. 13, 3:00 p.m. PT, Mountain West Network)
vs. Quinnipiac (Feb. 13, 6:00 p.m. PT, Mountain West Network)
vs. Seattle U (Feb. 14, 3:00 p.m. PT, Mountain West Network)
vs. Quinnipiac (Feb. 14, 6:00 p.m. PT, Mountain West Network)
vs. UC Davis (Feb. 15, 12:00 p.m. PT, Mountain West Network)
To say UNLV disappointed this week would be a gross understatement. In their opening MTE, at home against three mediocre-to-horrible teams from 2025, the Lady Rebs went 1-4, losing two games by run-rule, all while generally underperforming in every single phase of the game.
The Rebels are currently ranked 9th in the conference in both batting average (.241) and ERA (5.55). Sophomore Presley Barnes leads the Rebels in all offensive categories, recording a batting average of .444 and an OPS of 1.222. Keyannah Chavez is the only other Rebel currently holding a batting average above .290, though the Rebels do have three players (Maggie Vasa, Diamond Sefe, Kamryn Johnson) currently surpassing that total that are sitting on the bench for whatever reason.
As for the pitching staff, which was the area I thought would be the Rebs’ strongest suit, UNLV was mostly horrible in the opening week. Consensus All-MWC pitcher Yanina Sherwood pumped out an ERA of an abysmal 7.56 across her 8.1 innings of work, while Raegan Everett and Lauren Fettic weren’t much better off. Only junior Emma Wardlaw performed even decently, recording an ERA of 1.24 in her 5.2 innings. Unfortunately for her, the Rebels gave her absolutely no support on the defensive side, recording a disturbing 10 errors that allowed 12 unearned runs to score. Obviously, the Rebels recorded the worst fielding percentage in the conference: a paltry .926.
UNLV should not be this bad for the rest of the season, but it’s quite concerning to see every single unit implode at once like this. I think the Rebels will be able to turn things around, but then again, I didn’t think they would get swept by Cal Baptist at home, either.
