On paper, the start of the 2026 season has looked shaky for the winless Wildcats softball squad for about two weeks. Despite ACU still in search of its first win, Head Coach Jo Koons said she believes in challenging starts and the development of her roster.

ACU has opened this year 0-11 and last season, in Koons’ first year in the Big Country, a similar script saw the team start 0-9 in 2025. Despite the start, ACU went on to tie for fourth place in the Western Athletic Conference and made the postseason tournament for the first time in two seasons.

Just like last year, 2026 struggles came courtesy of the team’s nonconference schedule. Early Wildcat opponents included defending national champion No. 3 Texas, No. 11 Texas A&M and Ohio State, and it doesn’t get easier as the Wildcats face No. 2 Texas Tech for the first of two times this season.

Even with a slow start, Koons described the experience gained against this type of elite competition in one word: irreplaceable.

“One of the Texas coaches actually approached me and said, ‘You’re playing a harder preseason than we are,’” Koons said. “Yeah, we are because I want to be prepared. I want them to see the best before we get to conference.”

It has not been all gloomy for the Wildcats, as they have shown some flashes of growth in the skid. The bats came alive for ACU against Ohio State, scoring a season-best seven runs in the game.

“It is a process, and you have to trust that it’s going to all come together,” Koons said after the game. “It’s not overnight.”

Some ACU standouts in the loss:

Audrey Lacina: 2 hits, 2 RBIs
Jadyn Dawson: 2 hits, 2 runs, 3 RBIs
Emerson Meggers: 2 hits, 2 runs

ACU now returns home to Poly Wells Field for a three-game series against a tough New Mexico team. The first is Friday in a doubleheader at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., and the last game will be Saturday at noon. Koons believes the script will change from last week.

“I talked to them about protecting our home turf,” Koons said. “We will be a different-looking team than we were last week…I know we’re just going to keep getting better.”