Cowgirl Softball Starts Conference Play on the Road

Las Vegas, New Mexico - The Cowgirls Softball team finishes a buzzsaw of out-of-conference schedule and opens conference play with a tough test.

COACH PUGH: For Coach Kali Pugh in her New Mexico Highlands Cowgirls career, she collected her first career win on January 31, 2026, against Sul Ross State in a run-rule victory in Los Lunas, New Mexico. New Mexico Highlands University named Kali Pugh the new coach of the Cowgirls' softball program on May 28, 2025. Pugh comes to NMHU from Arizona's Yavapai College, where she led the Roughriders to the 2025 Arizona Community College Athletic Conference playoffs for the first time since 2022. Pugh has eight years of experience coaching at the junior college level, including five years at her alma mater, 

Last Season: The Cowgirls were 15-38 overall and 9-35 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference last year.

RMAC Poll:  New Mexico Highlands was selected to finish ninth in the 2026 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Preseason Softball Coaches' Poll. 

Gauntlet of Schedule: The Cowgirls open their season with five ranked programs in their out-of-conference schedule, including the defending national champions, and open their conference play with the defending RMAC conference champions and their sixth-ranked program thus far this season.

#5 West Texas A&M
#22 Oklahoma Baptist
#14 Oklahoma Christian 
#17 Central Oklahoma 
UT Tyler (defending national champions) 
#20 Colorado Christian ( Feb 21-22) (RMAC) 

*Rankings based on NFCA rankings as of 2/17/2026

Last Time Out:

Game 1: UT Tyler 6 - NMHU 3
Each team's offense started a bit slow, and UT Tyler struck first with a two-run single up the middle. They then added three more in the fourth. Then the Cowgirls' offense came to life with one run in the fifth and two in the sixth, two of those off an Aliya Rhees two-run home run; however, the comeback was not enough, as they lost the first game to UT Tyler.

 Game 2: UT Tyler 12- NMHU 3
The second game of the day was a tough outing for the Cowgirls' pitching, as they gave up 12 runs. They were able to get one run in the first inning and two in the second, but then they were blanked from there on out. Giana Marez, Olivia Boswell, and Olivia Pacheco each had an rbi.

Cowgirls Stat Leaders: 

Hitting: (20 AB Min.)
 Homeruns: Jazmyn Greigo (3)
Hits: Liliana Vigil German (11)
Stolen Bases: Three Players (1)
RBI: Jazmyn Greigo (11)


Pitching: (15 IP Min)
ERA: Jazmyn Greigo (8.97)
Strikeouts: London Lamb (15)


Scouting The Opposition: 

Colorado Christian:
The Cowgirls open conference play with a trip to Lakewood, Colorado, to face the defending RMAC champions, the Colorado Christian Cougars. The Cougars enter the series ranked #20 nationally and are 10-2 on the season, including a win over Cal State East Bay, currently ranked #3 nationally. At CCU, Head Coach Larry Hays has turned the program into a national powerhouse, leading the Cougars to 191 wins. He has taken them to Regionals four times and has claimed three RMAC tournament titles. 


Follow The Cowgirls: All RMAC Conference games are available on the RMAC Network


Up Next: The Cowgirls will play their first series at home on February 28th as Chadron State comes to town.