- Friday Live Stats (NMHU | ASU)
- Saturday Live Stats (UCCS | SWOSU)
- Sunday Live Stats (SWOSU | ASU)
- Game Notes

CANYON, Texas – The #8 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M open their 2026 campaign this weekend as they travel to Los Lunas, New Mexico to take part in the South Central Regional Challenge hosted by Western New Mexico. The Lady Buffs will play six games during the three-day event with matchups against New Mexico Highlands, Adams State (twice), UC Colorado Springs and Southwestern Oklahoma State (twice).
 
THIS IS LADY BUFF SOFTBALL
West Texas A&M Softball begins their 21st season of NCAA competition on Friday in Los Lunas as the Lady Buffs are a staggering 782-325 (.706) since reviving the program prior to the 2006 campaign. WT has won three South Central Regional Championships (2014, 2016, 2021) along with a pair of NCAA Division II National Championships in 2014 and 2021.
 
2025 REWIND
The Lady Buffs capped off 2025 with a 56-8 overall record and 40-4 Lone Star Conference record. WT opened the campaign ranked 13th before quickly entering the top 10 of the NFCA poll. The Lady Buffs spent 10 weeks in the top five including three weeks at No. 1. WT earned a share of the Lone Star Conference regular season title for the second consecutive season. WT led the LSC with a .362 average and 98 home runs and reached the NCAA Division II South Central Super Regional.
 
WT HEAD COACH MICHAEL MOOK
In just six seasons, Michael Mook has led West Texas A&M to a 242-61 (.799) mark while claiming the 2021 NCAA Division II National Championship. Mook is a two-time Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year (2024, 2025) who has led the Lady Buffs to four NCAA Postseason appearances (2021, 2023, 2024, 2025). Mook recently agreed to a three-year contract extension to keep him the WT dugout until at least the Summer of 2028. A new era of Lady Buff softball officially began on June 20, 2019, as Michael Mook was hired as the third head coach in program history.
 
OPENING THE SEASON
The Lady Buffs are 16-4 in the season opener dating back to the 2006 campaign, claiming a victory on Opening Day in each of the last four campaigns. WT has outscored their opponent 173-69 in the season opener including a run-differential of 57-16 under Coach Mook with three run-rule victories (2020, 2024, 2025).
 
NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS
The Cowgirls enter the 2026 campaign slated ninth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll as they are coming off of a 15-38 campaign a year ago with a 9-35 record in league action. 
 
NMHU enters the season under new leadership as Kali Pugh takes over the reins of the Cowgirl softball program. Pugh comes to NMHU from Yavapai College where she guided the Roughriders to the 2025 Arizona Community College Athletic Conference playoffs-marking the program's first postseason appearance since 2022.
 
THE SERIES
Friday afternoon marks the 14th all-time meeting between the Lady Buffs and Cowgirls, WT holds the 10-3 advantage in the series that dates back to 2006. The Lady Buffs have claimed the past eight meetings between the two teams including an 11-0 run-rule victory during last season's opener in Los Lunas.
 
ADAMS STATE
The Grizzlies are tabbed 12th in the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll following a 2025 campaign that saw Adams State go 5-51 overall with a 3-41 mark in league play. 
 
Dane Craig is entering his fourth year as a part of the Adams State Athletic Department. 2026 will be Craig's fifth season as head coach. Craig joins the Grizzlies after a season as an assistant coach at RMAC-foe Chadron State University and is a veteran softball coach of 22 years, including 17 at the high school level. He is the sixth head coach in Grizzly history.
 
THE SERIES
The Lady Buffs and Grizzlies will meet for the 21st and 22nd time on the diamond this weekend in New Mexico. WT is 17-3 in the series, winning the last 12 matchups. Last season saw the Lady Buffs top Adams State, 33-0 in five innings in Los Lunas as WT set a single-game scoring record while hitting for the homerun cycle in the opening inning.
 
UC COLORADO SPRINGS
The Mountain Lions are coming off a 33-24 overall record in 2025 with a 24-17 mark in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action as they are tabbed to finish fourth in the RMAC Preseason Poll. UCCS made a run to the RMAC Tournament Consolation Finals last season.
 
Dwight Sanders was named as the seventh head coach of the UCCS softball team in July 2023 and is heading into his third season with the program in 2026. The program's 33 wins last season marked the most in a single season since the 2013 campaign and just the sixth time in program history surpassing the 30-win threshold.
 
THE SERIES
Saturday afternoon will mark the 12th all-time meeting on the diamond between the Lady Buffs and Mountain Lions. WT is unbeaten in the series that dates back to 2014. Last season saw the Lady Buffs claim a 13-2 run-rule victory over UCCS during the South Central Regional Crossover in Los Lunas followed by a 8-7 WT victory the next weekend during the WT Invitational at Schaeffer Park.
 
SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA STATE
The Bulldogs were selected eighth in the Great American Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll following a 22-25 campaign in 2025 that included a 14-19 mark in league action. 
 
Head coach Cheyenne Mahy begins her first season at the helm this spring after being named the program's leader in August. Her versatility as both a hitter and pitcher earned her three First Team All-GAC utility selections and the title of 2021 GAC Newcomer of the Year while playing at Southeastern Oklahoma State. 
 
THE SERIES
West Texas A&M and Southwestern Oklahoma State will meet for the 9th and 10th time this weekend in Los Lunas. The Lady Buffs hold a 7-1 advantage in the series that dates back to 2006. The two teams last met during the WT Invitational in 2018 as the Lady Buffs claimed a 11-3 run-rule victory followed by a 13-3 run-rule victory in the tournament finale.
 
LONE STAR CONFERENCE PRESEASON POLL
The Lady Buffs were selected second in the 2026 Lone Star Conference preseason coaches' poll announced on January 21st by the league offices in Richardson, Texas.
 
Defending National Champion UT Tyler picked up 39 of the possible 41 first place votes to sit atop of the poll with 849 points followed by WT (8 first place, 817), Angelo State (2 first place, 753), Oklahoma Christian (1 first place, 715) and Lubbock Christian (1 first place, 665) to round out the top five.
 
Cameron came in sixth (551) followed by Eastern New Mexico (537), St. Edward's (489), St. Mary's (445), Texas A&M-Kingsville (416), Texas A&M International (351), Texas Woman's (322), Midwestern State (285), Western New Mexico (219), UT Dallas (188), Sul Ross State (101) and UT Permian Basin (100).