Weber State University softball is set to begin its 2026 season on Feb. 6, after ending last season with a conference success.
The Wildcats finished their 2025 season with a 29–32 record and an 8–7 conference record. They took part in the Big Sky Tournament in Greeley, Colorado, as the No. 3 seed. The Wildcats took home the tournament title with wins over No. 6 University of Montana and No. 2 California State University, Sacramento, and taking two of three from No. 1 Idaho State University. They outscored their opponents 34–17.
This success, after two disappointing seasons, has put pressure on the softball team.
“We haven’t won the tournament in a couple of years,” Head Coach Kristin Delahoussaye said. “You have that pressure from the couple of years past, then, all of a sudden, we win. Now you got different pressure of, ‘Well, now you have to win all the time.”
However, the “now” is where she wants her team’s focus to be, “(We need to) just control the controllables, be as good as we can at what we’re doing this year; that’s better than living in the past or flying into the future,” Delahoussaye said. “We are just trying to stay really present and just be the best version of ourselves and see what we get.”
A major piece of getting that message across has been establishing a strong locker-room culture to block out external pressure and noise. It is something that has been established by the players, according to Delahoussaye.
“We’ve got a lot of good leadership. A lot of girls really taking charge of upholding the culture and upholding the values that we have, which is awesome.”
The leadership has also swelled with the hiring of former players as coaches.
It started with hiring Addie Jensen, a former Weber State, Utah Valley University and Salt Lake Community College softball player, as the pitching coach last season.
In June 2025, they hired all-time great Wildcat Lauren Hoe as an assistant coach.
“It’s fun to have both (Lauren) and Addie, who have played here before,” Delahoussaye said. “They know the expectation, they know the culture, they know the tradition of what we’re doing.”
She also believes it has reduced the challenges of integrating a new coach into the program.
“(Lauren) has been awesome on being on board with how we’re going to teach it, what we’re going to do, things like that, which is easy,” she said. “I mean, it’s not getting a new person on board. It’s bringing in somebody from the past and just throwing them back in the fire, which is fun.”
Hoe, a former catcher and utility player, finished top ten in Weber State softball history in games played at 192, starts at 182, runs scored at 87, hits at 151, runs batted in at 120, doubles at 29, home runs at 32, base on balls at 73, slugging percentage at 0.572, on-base percentage at 0.408, sacrifice flies at 7 and putouts at 785.
Her knowledge of handling success has been instrumental in helping sophomore second baseman Sadie Kirk improve on last season.
“I love Coach Lo, I love her,” Kirk said. “She’s very easy to talk to, especially since she’s been in my situation. She was a Weber State softball person here, so going to her and getting some info about her was very nice.”
For as good as Hoe was, Kirk, while early in her career, has set a new standard. She led her team with 40 runs batted in and 21 base on balls, while adding 56 hits, 36 runs, 95 total bases and a 0.352/1.028/5.97 slash line. She was named to the Big Sky All-Tournament Team and was the Big Sky’s Co-Freshman of the Year, which was special for her.
“It actually felt amazing,” Kirk said. “When I found out, I actually started crying on the bus because all the hard work that I put in and that I continue to put in, it all just shows. So I’m very grateful.”
Kirk has spent the offseason growing with the stars of last year’s team. Five Wildcats were named to the All-Big Sky team in 2025: Kirk, first team; third baseman Abby Grundy, first team; utility Riley Whalen, first team; first baseman Kiaira Smith, second team and pitcher Cali McCraw, second team, each of whom will be back for the fast-approaching 2026 season.
The season gets underway with the Kickoff Classic in Phoenix on Feb. 6. The Wildcats will compete against Santa Clara University and Grand Canyon University that day. Their regular season starts with a matchup against Abilene Christian University on March 10 at Wildcat Softball Field. Delahoussaye believes they are ready.
“They look good. They came back really excited, really confident, which is good for us.”
She also believes that her team has handled the pressure well. “We’re not scared, we’re not timid. We’re learning from excellence and then getting better from there, which is great.”
The team got together to establish goals for their season. Not only are they looking to repeat as Big Sky Tournament champions, but they also hope to win the conference outright. Then, they hope for some more postseason success.
Part of accomplishing those goals is meeting their clear expectations: finishing with a winning record and winning each series.
That doesn’t happen without a motivated team that is always looking to get better.
“There’s always stuff to improve on,” Kirk said. “Every day I wake up and choose to be better at at least one thing because nobody’s perfect. So, I feel like being 1% better every day is always amazing.”
She also believes last year was only a small percentage of what she can do; something none of Weber State’s opponents want to hear.
“I feel like this is just another year to show what I’m capable of. Last year was just a little snippet of what I can do,” Kirk said.
Delahoussaye says opponents need to prepare to stop an aggressive team that also does all the small things right.
“We’ve worked a lot on a little bit better base running … more aggressive,” Delahoussaye said. “Looking for opportunities a little bit more, challenging defenses a little bit more. We’ve always been good base runners, but we’re trying to be even better base runners … that’s a little different than last year.”
