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Ohio State softball coaching staff receives impressive honor
Ohio State softball coaching staff receives impressive honor
Coming into the 2025 season, the Ohio State softball team wasn't expected to be much of a player in the Big Ten. The team lost a lot of its offensive production and was ushering in a new head coach and staff. By all accounts and measures, it was a turn-the-page kind of year, one that would perceivably need a lot of patience and grace.
But a funny thing happened in a year of uncertainty. The team led the entire country in several offensive categories, including home runs and RBIs en route to a tie for fourth place in the Big Ten and a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament Knoxville Region. Things ended there, but it was something to build on, and something to point towards some promise for years ahead.
And now, for all of its efforts, the Ohio State softball coaching staff was recognized as the NFCA Great Lakes Region Coaching Staff of the Year on Friday. That not only includes head coach Kirin Kumar, but also assistant coaches Matthew Guemmer and Courtney Vierstra.
The Buckeyes won 45 games in 2025 and led the country by scoring 495 runs. OSU also set school records for doubles (102), runs per game (8.25), and slugging percentage (.701). It also became the first team in NCAA history to have four players hit 20 or more home runs in a season.
This isn't the first time Kumar and her staff have won coaching staff of the year in the region. Her group of coaches was also recognized at Miami (OH) in 2021, 2023, and 2024. Vierstra came with Kumar from Oxford, while Guemmer joined her in Columbus after being an assistant at Rutgers.
The NFCA's Great Lakes Region is comprised of 34 teams from 10 different conferences. The Big Ten members in the region are Indiana, Michigan, Northwestern, and Wisconsin.
