By OAKLEE FIELDER
The Lady Ranger softball season is preparing to start on Friday as they travel to Branson, Missouri, to face five teams, including the University of Central Oklahoma.
The Lady Rangers head into the 2026 season hoping for a better season than years past. They were voted 12th out of twelve in the preseason coaches’ poll. Northwestern has not had a winning softball season in 11 years. A change in coaching staff may be the start of the change they are looking for.
Efrain Barraza was hired as Northwestern’s new softball coach in August. Barraza was an assistant coach for Northwestern in 2022. He spent some time coaching Alva High School’s baseball team as an assistant coach.
Barraza has histoy playing softball. He won state and national tournaments for softball clubs. He also played in the International Softball Congress World Tournaments. Barraza played shortstop for NWOSU’s baseball team from 2003 to 2005.
The Lady Rangers have eight returning players for the 2026 season including Makanalei Lapera, Madelyn Cason and Kaitlyn Corn. The Lady Rangers went 14-36 in 2025 with an 8-25 conference record and finished the season in last place in the standings.
We have seen that coaching changes can turn around a program at NWOSU with the soccer team. They had a losing and a statistically bad year in 2024, but in 2025, they turned it around and made the GAC playoffs. There is no doubt hope for the Lady Rangers’ 2026 campaign; the only question is, can they turn it around?
The Lady Rangers will play one game on Friday, two on Saturday and two on Sunday. They face known opponents Newman University on Saturday and UCO on Sunday.