COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State’s coaching staff of head coach Kirin Kumar, assistant coach Matthew Guemmer and assistant coach Courtney Vierstra were selected on Friday as the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Great Lakes Region Coaching Staff of the Year, the organization announced.
Kumar, in her first season leading the Buckeyes, led Ohio State to 45 wins and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Along the way, she coached the nation’s top scoring offense, as the Buckeyes scored 495 runs and also hit 147 home runs, which was the most in the country and also set both a school and Big Ten record. Ohio State 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.
The Buckeyes spent every week in the top 25 poll from the midway point of the season on, and finished 16-6 in Big Ten play with series wins over Michigan State, Indiana, Penn State, Michigan, Purdue and Illinois. Ohio State’s three-game sweep of Michigan in April was the program’s first-ever over the Wolverines.
In the circle, freshman Lorin Boutte won 21 games – tied for the most ever by a rookie pitcher – and was a Freshman All-American by Softball America. Junior Kennedy Kay also was a 13-game winner. Nine of Boutte’s 21 wins came against Big Ten foes, as she also earned a spot on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team.
Kumar and her staff have earned region coaching staff of the year honors from the NFCA on three other occasions while at Miami University: in 2021, 2023 and 2024. Guemmer had spent the last two seasons at Rutgers University while Vierstra, the team’s pitching coach, came with Kumar from Miami University where she was both a player (2018-22) and assistant coach (2023-24).
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.
This article was published by Ohio State Buckeyes on 2025-06-06 07:03:00
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