KAYLA BIXEL | ASSISTANT COACH

WKU Softball head coach Amy Tudor announced the promotion of Kayla Bixel from the Hilltoppers’ Director of Operations into an assistant coach for the program in August of 2016. Bixel joined the Hilltopper family prior to the 2015-16 campaign and works primarily with the team's outfielders.

The Hilltoppers would pick up their third-straight 30-win season, going 30-22 in 2023 and seeing head coach Amy Tudor mark her 500th career win and 300th win at WKU. Posting a 14-9 record in CUSA play, the Tops were never swept in a conference series all season, even taking reigning CUSA Tournament Champion, North Texas, 3-0, in the series in Bowling Green. Wrapping up in the top-100 in the RPI, WKU played host to three power five opponents at the WKU Softball Complex, as they finished their home campaign, 17-11. TJ Webster, Taylor Davis, and Faith Hegh would land CUSA First Team All-Conference honors, while Hegh would earn NFCA All-Region Second Team Recognition and freshman Kaytlan Kemp would land a spot on the CUSA All-Freshman team.

WKU Softball wrapped up a historic 2022 campaign - Bixel's sixth as an assistant coach - that saw the team go 38-13 for a program-best .745 win percentage to go along with a Conference USA East Division Championship as well as the 700th win in program history. The Hilltoppers posted a 17-7 record in C-USA action and returned to the Conference USA Tournament Championship game for the second-consecutive season. The Hilltoppers owned a program-record 23-2 mark when playing at the WKU Softball Complex including an upset win over No. 5 Alabama in front of a record crowd (1,512). Shelby Nunn, Taylor Davis and Taylor Sanders all earned NFCA All-Region honors after each also earned C-USA All-Conference recognition along with Randi Drinnon.

In her fifth season - the 2021 campaign - Bixel led two Hilltopper outfielders to Second Team All-Conference nods. The pair of versatile athletes in Paige Carter and Kennedy Sullivan both also earned NFCA All-Region recognition.

In Bixel's third season - the 2019 campaign - WKU saw its first-ever Conference Player of the Week accolade collected as senior outfielder Jordan Vorbrink earn recognition. Vorbrink along with fifth-year Shannon Plese earned Second Team All-Conference nods as well under Bixel's instruction.
In her second season as WKU's assistant coach - the 2018 campaign - Bixel saw outfielder Jordan Thomas become WKU Softball's first freshman to ever earn an NFCA All-Region accolade. The Hilltoppers went 28-26 overall on the season.

Bixel, a native of Bremen, Ind., implemented the WKU Softball Pinch Hitter’s Club in her first year on The Hill. The club is a donor program for fans to support the WKU Softball team and receive benefits in return. Additionally, Bixel oversaw the Hilltoppers’ efforts in the classroom where the team combined for a spring GPA of 3.52, assisted with recruit visits and also held in-game and office responsibilities.

In 2010, Bixel earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from IPFW and went on to teach for five years in the East Allen County School District in New Haven, Indiana. In addition to teaching, Bixel worked to receive a Master’s degree in education from Ball State University. An assistant girls’ basketball coach at Leo High School for six seasons, Bixel has just completed her Master’s degree in intercollegiate athletic administration from WKU in January 2017.

A versatile athlete, Bixel was a three-sport competitor at the Bremen High School, earning 10 varsity letters across volleyball, basketball and softball. Bixel went on to play collegiate softball at Grace College following high school.