Mariah Lopez is making way into her second season as the Assistant Coach for the MACU Softball program going into 2027, primarily serving as the team's Pitching Coach.
In her first season with the Evangels with a strapped pitching staff that only had three arms, Lopez guided the staff to the third-best earned run average in the Sooner at 3.42. MACU also posted the second-highest strikeout per seven inning ratio in the league at 4.77 and second-most total strikeouts with 215. Lopez mentored a pair of All-SAC pitchers in freshman Emmerson Dickinson who garnered First Team honors as well as Gia Reynosa, who earned Second Team acclaim.
Lopez cames to MACU after spending the last season as a Graduate Assistant Coach for the University of Arkansas in 2024-25. In her lone season with the Razorbacks, Arkansas finished the regular season with a 44-14 overall record and qualified for the NCAA Super Regional. Lopez helped oversee a pitching staff that tossed the 10th-most shutouts (15) in the nation and ranked 18th in total strikeouts (347).
Before moving into a coaching role, Lopez completed an incredible four-year playing career at NCAA D-I Utah, where she wrapped up her Utes tenure with a 58-37 record and five saves while notching a 2.81 career ERA while striking out 582 batters and walking just 241 over 600.2 innings of work in the circle from 2021-24.
Lopez was especially great in her final two seasons in Utah, earning All-Pac 12 First Team honors in 2023 and 2024 while being named an NFCA Third Team All-American following the 2023 campaign. During her All-American season, Lopez posted a 23-7 record in the circle with a 2.87 ERA and 206 strikeouts to 78 walks. She then followed it up in 2024 with a 22-12 record and a career-best ERA (2.22) and strikeouts (230).
Overall, Lopez closed out her illustrious Utes career with multiple marks in the UU record book, notching the program's third-most strikeouts (582) and fifth-most appearances (141).
In her final regular season game of the 2023 season, Lopez made history by becoming just the 30th Ute in the team's history to throw a no-hitter in a 2-0 victory at No. 13 Oregon in Eugene. Lopez was instrumental in leading the Utes to an appearance in the NCAA World Series played at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, making it just the fifth time Utah has made it all the way to the World Series tourney in program history.
On-top of being a tremendous collegiate pitcher, Lopez has taken her talents to the professional level as well, competing for the New York Rise in 2024 as well as the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) in 2025. During the 2024 season with the Rise, Lopez notched a 3-3 record in the circle with a 3.23 ERA over 30.1 innings of work. In 2025 with the AUSL, Lopez made nine appearances and tossed 12 innings.
During the summer of 2026, Lopez competed with the Chicago Bandits from the AUSL.
