May 6, 2026 | Isaac Garcia | Sports Editor
Seniors from the Western softball program were honored last Saturday in a home doubleheader against the Western Washington Vikings. Among the honored players were Lexi Baumgartner, Victoria Zimmerman, Madelynne Hommel, Hope Bodak and Emma Cordero.
Baumgartner wraps up her time as a Wolf with 71 games played, 54 starts, five home runs, 33 RBI, 35 putouts and a .923 fielding percentage. Zimmerman completes her career with 184 games played, 158 starts, 19 RBI, 175 putouts, a .973 fielding percentage and as the all-time program leader in walks with 76, a mark she set during the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader. Through Hommel’s Western career, she had 93 games played, 90 starts, one home run, 27 RBI, 105 putouts and a .917 fielding percentage. Bodak finishes with 91 games played, 58 starts, one home run, 17 RBI, 193 putouts and a .991 fielding percentage.
Cordero, who has 211 putouts in her career with a .966 fielding percentage and 15 RBI, saved her first career home run for the best time in Game 1 of the doubleheader when the team needed a play. The three-run homer broke a 1-1 tie and secured a 4-1 win for Western on senior day. Other key contributions included sophomore Lauren Mauer, whose fifth-inning home run set up the tie game before Cordero’s home run. The play also gave Mauer the fifth-most RBI recorded in a single season throughout program history. Pitcher Penny-Lew Barnett had five strikeouts and only allowed one run before first-year Braeli Martin came in as the closer late in the sixth inning, where she held Western Washington scoreless and hitless in her time at the mound. The Wolves would put up a strong effort in the second game of the day, but ultimately fell short by just a run.
Despite the loss and falling just short of making the GNAC softball championships, the program saw improved results from last year, with an 11-win increase in coach Aly Boytz’s fourth season as head coach. Hommel finished seventh in the conference for individual batting average and Mauer was eighth in the conference for home runs and RBI.
Western also enjoyed strong pitching performances in 2026, finishing third in the conference as a team for ERA and having three players — Barnett, Martin and Kennedy Abbas — all finishing in the top ten individually. In fielding, Bodak was second in fielding percentage, with sophomore Reghann Fairbairn following close behind in third.
While the Wolves graduate multiple key contributors this season, they should still return with a significant portion of the production they had with players such as Martin making significant impacts so early in their careers. Earlier this season, in fact, Martin had the third-most strikeouts in a single game through program history, with 14 against Bushnell and won GNAC Pitcher of the Week at one point. Another first-year player who showed significant promise this season was Haley Homan, who on the season had 12 RBI and a .951 fielding percentage. Then, of course, sophomore players such as Fairbairn, who won GNAC Player of the Week honors March 23, Lauren Mauer and Penny-Lew Barnett should all be even bigger pieces of the team next season.
Contact the author at howlsports@mail.wou.edu
