Incoming softball assistant coaches Courtney Vierstra (left), Matthew Guemmer (middle), and Caitlyn Nolan (right). Photo Credit: Ohio State Athletics
Kirin Kumar’s supporting staff is officially finalized.
Kirin Kumar, the Buckeyes’ new softball head coach, has appointed Caitlyn Nolan, Courtney Vierstra and Matthew Guemmer as her assistant coaches, the Ohio State athletic department announced in a press release Wednesday.
“I’m excited to hire a staff that are both amazing coaches and people,” Kumar said in the press release. “Having worked with them before, I have a great belief in their ability to both recruit top-level student-athletes and connect with our current players. Our values align and I’m honored to work alongside them as we start to chase our goals at Ohio State.”
Nolan has crossed paths with Kumar multiple times during their respective coaching careers. Nolan spent last season as an assistant coach for Miami (OH) University, where she helped the RedHawks achieve one of the greatest single offensive seasons in collegiate softball history alongside then-head coach Kumar.
The 2024 RedHawks led the NCAA with 160 total home runs, just one shy of matching the NCAA record for most home runs in a single season. Miami also led Division 1 in scoring offense (8.7) and slugging percentage (.724) for the season.
Before coaching at Miami, Nolan spent two seasons as a professional shortstop and second baseman for the Bologna Blue Girls in the Italian A1 Softball League in Bologna, Italy, Wednesday’s press release stated.
Additionally, Nolan played in over 200 games in more than four seasons during her collegiate career at Virginia Tech. As a senior, she became the school’s single-season home run leader (19) and earned first-team National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Region honors.
Nolan then spent three seasons on staff with Virginia Tech as a student-assistant coach, crossing paths with Kumar — who served as an assistant coach for the Hokies from 2023-24 — in her final year of the program, according to Wednesday’s press release.
Vierstra also spent time coaching with Kumar at Miami, serving as the school’s pitching coach for the past two seasons. She helped develop a Mid-American Conference — also known as MAC — Pitcher of the Year in the form of Brianna Pratt, a MAC Freshman Pitcher of the Year in the form of Madilyn Reeves and two First-Team All-MAC pitchers in Addy Jarvis and Brianna Pratt.
Even before jumping into coaching, Vierstra dominated the MAC in her four years as a pitcher for Miami, being coached by Kumar for her final two seasons with the RedHawks. She was named the MAC Pitcher of the Year in 2021 and was a three-time first-team All-MAC honoree (2019, 2021, 2022).
Vierstra also helped lead the RedHawks to the MAC regular season championship three times (2019, 2021, 2022) and a MAC tournament championship (2022), making NCAA tournament appearances in her final two years as a player.
Guemmer comes to the Buckeyes after spending the previous two seasons as an assistant coach for Rutgers University, where he helped the Scarlet Knights achieve back-to-back 30-win seasons for the first time in program history, thus earning the school’s highest seed in Big Ten tournament history, according to Wednesday’s press release.
From 2020-22, Guemmer was an assistant coach at Southeast Missouri State University. In his second year there, he coached the Redhawks to a 39-16 Ohio Valley Conference record, winning the 2021 OVC regular-season title.
Guemmer worked alongside Kumar at Virginia Tech, helping coach Nolan as a volunteer assistant coach, specifically working with the team’s outfield, and was the director of the Peter D’Amour Softball Camp in 2019, the current head coach of the Hokies.
During that season with the Hokies, Guemmer and Kumar were part of the Virginia Tech staff that was named the NFCA Mid-Atlantic Region Coaching Staff of the Year.
Guemmer spent the four years prior to Virginia Tech as a teacher and head coach of the girls’ softball team at De Soto High School in De Soto, Missouri, the local high school in his hometown. At De Soto, he accumulated a 76-34 record, winning three district championships and a Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) 3A state championship while being named the 2014 Regional Radio Dream Team Coach of the Year.
