Coaching Staff

Paige Parker | Associate Head Coach

Paige Parker joined the Utah coaching staff in August 2021 after spending the previous season on the coaching staff at Tulsa. A two-time national champion and four-time All-American pitcher during her playing career at Oklahoma, Parker serves as the pitching coach on head coach Amy Hogue's staff.

In Parker's first year, Utah's team ERA decreases by nearly three full runs and pitcher Mariah Lopez earned an all-conference spot. One year later, in 2023, the Utes crafted a mark of 2.86, the program's lowest for a full season since 2016, and Lopez put together an campaign that landed her on the NFCA All-American Third-Team, as well as the all-conference and all-region first-teams. Lopez's stat line included 23 victories, second-most in the Pac-12 and tied for 16th in the nation, while also placing third in the league in strikeouts and in the top 10 in complete games, strikeout rate and ERA. Pitcher Sydney Sandez earned all-conference honors as well and Parker's pitching staff helped the Utes capture the first-ever Pac-12 Tournament Championship and reach the Women's College World Series for the first time since 1994.

In 2024, Lopez collected 22 more wins, making her the first Utah hurlers in over a decade to compile back-to-back seasons with over 20 wins. Her win total and 225 strikeouts put her in the top 20 nationally and helped her garner First-Team All-Pac-12 and First-Team All-Region spots. Lopez's list of 2024 accomplishments also includes earning All-Pac-12 Tournament Team honors, along with fellow hurler Sarah Ladd.

Parker joined the Tulsa softball program in July 2020 to mentor the Golden Hurricane pitching staff, and guided her staff to a record of 25-16, as three Tulsa pitchers finished the season with winning records and sub-3.30 ERAs. Chenise Delce led the group with an 8-6 record, landing her on the all-conference first team and NFCA all-region second team. Kassidy Scott tied for second all-time in TU history for career saves with 9 after picking up 2 bigs saves during the 2021 season.

Prior to her one-year stint at Tulsa, Parker spent one season at her alma mater, Oklahoma, as a volunteer assistant. During her season with the Sooners, Oklahoma was 20-4 before the season was cut short due to the pandemic, following one year serving as an assistant coach at William Jewel.

Parker played four seasons at Oklahoma, becoming a two-time national champion. During her extraordinary career, she was named Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and All-Big 12 First Team four times, 2016 Female Athlete of the Year and 2015 Big 12 Freshman of the Year. Parker was vital in leading the Sooners to three consecutive appearances in the NCAA Division I Women's College World Series. The pitcher earned All-Tournament team selections in each of the three appearances.

The Sooner finished her career ranked second in Oklahoma history for career win percentage (.872), wins (123), appearances (174), strikeouts (968) and shutouts (37). She ranks fourth all-time in games started (134), innings pitched (867.1), saves (six) and strikeouts per seven innings (7.81).

The Independence, Mo., native played one season with the USSSA Pride in the National Pro Fastpitch league. She helped lead the Pride to the 2018 Cowles Cup Championship, taking home the title.

Parker graduated from Oklahoma with her undergraduate degree in Arts and Sciences with Distinction with an emphasis in Coach and Leadership in 2018.

Courtney Martinez | Associate Head Coach

Courtney Martinez officially joined the Utah Softball coaching staff as an assistant coach on July 12, 2023.

In her first year tutoring the program’s batters, the Utes produced a pair of .400 hitters, the first time the program accomplished that since 2017 and just second time on record in school history. The Utes also had six hitters land on the all-conference roster, including two first-team picks, both of whom were also all-region selections, and two all-freshman team honorees.

One of those all-conference players was Kaylah Nelsen, who Martinez worked with throughout the 2024 season. Nelsen improved her batting average from .233 in 2023 to .370 a year ago. She also finished second in the Pac-12 in doubles, led Utah in RBIs, posted the squad’s third-highest hit total and was one of the toughest players in the nation to strike out. Nelsen continued to excel in the postseason, landing on the All-Pac-12 Tournament Team.

Martinez was hired on to coach Amy Hogue's staff after spending six seasons at Iowa State, where her list of responsibilities included working with ISU's hitters and infielders. Under her tutolage, the Cyclones topped 40 homers in five of her six seasons, including 2021, when they blasted 64 round-trippers in 57 games. That squad also racked up 34 victories and made the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1988.

One of Martinez's pupils at ISU was 2021 NFCA First-Team All-American Sami Williams, who spent that season smashing the school's single-season records for batting average (.446) and home runs (21), while also driving in 54 runs to go with a .902 slugging percentage. Williams ended her career as the program's all-time leader in hits, doubles, homers, RBIs, runs scored at-bats and games played. She's also the Big 12's all-time leader in hits, doubles and total bases and ranks third in NCAA history in doubles and fourth in total bases.

In 2019, the California native helped mold a Cyclone squad that won 37 games, the second-winningest season in program history, and appeared in a national postseason tournament for the first time since 1988. Iowa State was No. 48 in the final RPI rankings, released by the NCAA. It is the highest RPI finish in program history. The resurgence started on defense, where Iowa State has boasted one of the most improved units over the past several seasons under Martinez’s watch. In her first season on staff, Iowa State’s fielding percentage rose to .956, up from .946 in 2017, and took another immense leap in 2019. The 2019 Cyclones were one of the most improved defensive units in the country, ranking third in the Big 12 with a .967 fielding percentage. Iowa State also ranked No. 5 nationally in double plays turned with 32 on the season.

Martinez was hired by the Cyclones from UNLV, where she had served as the associate head coach, a position she was elevated to after one season with the Rebels. During her time at UNLV, she specialized in mentoring the Rebel infield and instructing the team's hitters, as well as handling responsibilities in recruiting.

Martinez arrived at UNLV after two seasons as an assistant at CSU Bakersfield, where she helped the program transition from independent status into the Western Athletic Conference. One year after a sixth-place finish in the team's inaugural season in the WAC, CSUB moved up to fourth in 2015 and claimed runner-up status at the conference's postseason tournament. Under her watch, six student-athletes were named All-WAC and four were chosen for WAC All-Tournament recognition. In addition, Kelsie Monroe earned the WAC Pitcher of the Year award, as well as a nod on the NFCA's All-Pacific Region Third-Team. In the classroom, the team had 11 individuals earn WAC All-Academic honors and five more selected as NFCA Scholar-Athletes.

The Chino Hills, Calif., native spent four years (2006-09) as an infielder at Cal State Fullerton where she started 217 games and helped the team to four straight NCAA Regionals and one Super Regional in 2007. The Big West recognized Martinez twice when she was named its Player of the Week (2007) and as a second-team selection (2009). During her senior season, she led the team in batting average (.327), on-base percentage (.402) and slugging (.584) and concluded her career ranked in the top 10 in triples, sacrifice flies, sacrifice bunts and fielding assists. She also spent time playing internationally in Italy with Nuoro.

Her coaching career began with two stints as a volunteer assistant at Cal State Fullerton (2009-10) and Azusa Pacific (2010-11). She was promoted to an assistant position at Azusa Pacific in Sept. 2011, where she also served as an academic mentor, athletic compliance assistant and as an assistant supervisor for the university's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Martinez received her undergraduate degree in communications from Cal State Fullerton in 2009. She earned her master's degree in college counseling and student development from Azusa Pacific four years later.

Kaija Gibson | Softball Assistant Coach

Kaija Gibson became the newest member of the Utah Softball coaching staff on July 14, 2023.

Gibson joined coach Amy Hogue's braintrust after two seasons as a volunteer assistant at UCF, where she helped the Golden Knights pile up nearly 90 victories, capture back-to-back American Athletic Conference Tournament Championships and reach NCAA Super Regionals for first time in school history in 2022. The Knights accumulated 49 victories during that 2022 campaign and ended the year as the nation's No. 14 team. Gibson and the rest of the UCF staff were recognized as the AAC Coaching Staff of the Year and the NFCA Mideast Region Coaching Staff of the Year.

Gibson also brings with her coaching experience at both the professional and youth levels, having helmed the Florida Vibe to a 26-5 record during their first season in 2022 and led Team Seattle to an appearance in the national championship tournament during their 2020-21 campaign.

As a player, Gibson spent five seasons on the diamond for the Washington Huskies and helped the program reach the Women's College World Series three years in-a-row from 2017-19. The Redmond, Washington native was a Pac-12 All-Academic First-Team pick, a three-time Pac-12 Honor Roll selection and earned a pair of NFCA Scholar Athlete Awards. She was also a member of the team's coach appointed leadership group during a career in which she played in over 200 games for the Huskies. In the classroom, she earned a bachelors and a master in education from UW.