Washington University in St. Louis Women's Softball

SCHOOL W L T % CONFERENCE NCAA Fontbonne 2018 13 23 0 .361 3rd - 2019 10 25 0 .286 6th - 2020 5 7 0 .417 - - 2021 19 18 0 .514 1st Regional 2022 22 19 0 .537 1st Regional TOTAL 69 92 0 .429 2 SLIAC 2 NCAAs WashU 2023 20 18 0 .526 3rd - 2024 28 12 0 .700 2nd Regional 2025 34 7 0 .829 1st Regional TOTAL 82 37 0 .689 1 UAA 2 NCAAs CAREER TOTAL 151 129 0 .539 3 Conference 4 NCAAs Casey Cromwell was announced as the fourth head coach in WashU softball history on September 15, 2022. in 2025, WashU won the program's first UAA title since 2017, defeating Emory 4-2 to win the crown and earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. WashU earned hosting rights to the regional for the second-straight year. Seven Bears were named to the All-Assocation Team. Seniors Maggie Baumstar, Taylor Geluck, Natalia Pilpil and Erin Reardon and sophomore Maria Brooks were named to the first team while seniors Jamie Burgasser and Jordan Rossi were named to the second team. The coaching staff of Cromwell, Melissa "Skeeter" Gentile, Natasha Ramakrishnan and Cora Bassett were named UAA Coaching Staff of the Year for the second year in a row. Pilpil, Reardon and Burgasser went on to earn NFCA All-Region honors with Pilpil and Reardon on the first team and Burgasser on the second team. Erin Reardon was named a NFCA Second Team All-American, the program's first All-American since 2016. In 2024, the Bears finished as the runner-up in the UAA and hosted an NCAA Regional for the first time in program history. Six players earned All-UAA honors, headlined by first-year Maria Brooks who was named UAA Rookie of the Year. Junior Natalia Pilpil and sophomore Sydney Schneider were named to the first team while juniors Jamie Burgasser and Taylor Geluck and first-year Kennedy Grippo were named to the second team. The coaching staff of Cromwell, Melissa "Skeeter" Gentile, Natasha Ramakrishnan and Holly Stoner earned UAA Coaching Staff of the Year. Pilpil went on to earn NFCA All-Region VIII first team honors. In her first year at the helm, Cromwell's Bears finished with a 20-18 record which included a sweep of UAA opponent Emory. Katie Gould was named the UAA Position Player of the Year, which marked the second-straight year the Bears received this honor. Gould also received a first team nod after finishing the season with a .406 batting average, 52 hits, five triples, two doubles, 12 RBi, 64 bases and 11 stolen bases in 14 attempts. She went on to earn National Fastpitch Coaches Association Region VIII Second Team honors.  Additionally, Holly Stoner was named All-UAA first team while Erin Reardon and Jordan Rossi both picked up All-UAA Second Team honors. Academically, five Bears - Maggie Baumstark, Katie Gould, Payton Irwin, Natalia Pilpil, Tami Wong - were named to the College Sports Communicators All-District team. A total of 17 softball players picked up Academic All-UAA honors. Prior to WashU, Cromwell spent five seasons as the head coach at nearby Fontbonne University where she has steadily increased the success of the Griffins' program, culminating in a 2022 SLIAC title and the program's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2015. Additionally, in 2022, the Griffins led all of Division III in double plays per game with .61.   During Cromwell's tenure at Fontbonne, she coached 21 SLIAC all-conference selections and 47 NFCA all-academic honorees. The Griffins participated in over 300 hours of community engagement per year and held a grade-point average above 3.5.   Off the field, Cromwell was the SAAC leader for the University, taught classes in sports management, and served as a member of the Diversity and Inclusion and Mental Health Committees, the Fontbonne Diversity and Inclusion representative in the SLIAC, the SLIAC Chair Representative and the Regional Advisory Committee representative for the SLIAC.   Prior to her time at Fontbonne, Cromwell began her coaching career at Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne (IPFW) where she served as a graduate assistant for two years, focusing on the team's defense, assisting with strength and conditioning workouts, practice plans, mental training, statistics, winter workouts, team travel and hitting clinics. Cromwell also handled the team's equipment and uniform orders, field maintenance and team retreats. During her time there, she helped improve fielding percentage from .916 in 2015 to .943 in 2017.   Cromwell began her playing career at Weatherford College in Texas where she played third base and was an all-conference and all-region selection with a .378 average, 13 doubles, 13 home runs and 45 RBI. She went on to play her final three years at Lamar University in Texas, where she played second and third base, earning all-conference honors. Cromwell finished her career as the leader in home runs (19), RBI (69), doubles (21), and hit by pitch (29).   Cromwell holds a bachelor's degree in exercise science with a minor in kinesiology from Lamar and obtained her master's degree in organizational leadership and supervision from IPFW in 2017.

Meisinger enters her fifth season as the head diving coach coach at WashU. She has been coaching at Clayton Diving Alliance for more than 10 years, where she has coached 18 individuals to 19 top-12 finishes at the USA Diving Junior National Championships, including one champion. Meisinger has had one diver selected to the USA Diving Junior National Squad and eight athletes win the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) State Diving Championships. She graduated from Amherst College with a bachelor's degree in political science in 2011. While at Amherst, Meisinger was a three-time Honorable Mention All-American. She was the 2011 NESCAC Champion on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards, the NESCAC Diver of the Year and 4-year High Point Diver. In her senior year, she was awarded the Friends of Amherst Athletics award in recognition of her commitment to the Amherst diving program. Meisinger and her husband, Sam, reside in Webster Groves with their two children and their dog, Motz. Updated February 2025

Melissa "Skeeter" Gentile (pronounced gen-TIL-ee) was announced as the program's assistant coach in August 25, 2023, bringing with her 10 years of DI coaching experience with her last stop being at Eastern Michigan University. As the head coach at Eastern Michigan University, Gentile coached EMU to one of its best campaign’s during the 2016 season. As a team in 2016, the Eagles pieced together one of the best offensive seasons in EMU history. The Green and White scored 203 runs, the second-most in Eastern Michigan history, and pounded out 69 doubles, the most since 2007. In the circle, the Eagles’ pitching staff posted the team’s best ERA since 2012 while each hurler set career-highs in strikeouts. EMU’s on-the- field success carried over to the classroom where the Green and White set a program record with 12 Academic All-MAC selections. The 12 honorees also ranked as the most in the conference. In 2015, EMU broke the single season home run record after launching the ball over the fence on 41 occasions. In addition, the 2015 roster recorded the second-most hits all-time with 366, while it added 181 runs batted in, good for the fourth-best in school history. Academically, Gentile’s squad put eight student-athletes on the Academic All-MAC squad, while she two players to the MAC’s prestigious Distinguished Scholar Athlete list. . In her first season at EMU, she improved the Eagles’ batting average from last in the conference to sixth overall and had two rank among conference leaders in every offensive category. Gentile, who is also a nationally recognized speaker and clinician, has spent the last four years running some of the largest collegiate softball tournaments in the country. Although Gentile is widely known on the softball field, she is also a highly accomplished life and business coach of the field. As the owner of Make It Happen Life Coaching, she has been able to impact the lives of her clients on an exceptional level earning International Coaching Federation (ICF) accolades. In her playing career, Gentile was a four-year letterwinner for the University of Michigan and finished her tenure as the career (28) and single-season (13) home run record holder. A co-captain in 2000, she earned All-Big Ten, All-Region and All-America honors in 1998 and was the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year in 1997. Gentile participated in two Women’s College World Series at Michigan, placing fifth in both 1997 and 1998 and was named to the Women’s College World Series All-Tournament Team in 1997. Along with the Big Ten Freshmen of the Year honor, Gentile earned second-team All-Big Ten accolades in 1997 as well as first-team All-Big Ten and All-Region accolades as a sophomore. Gentile also went on to play with the USA Women’s National Team from 1996-2000 and was a member of the USA Pan-American Team in 1997 before graduating from Michigan in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology. She continued her playing career in the Women’s Professional Softball League (now the National Pro Fastpitch League) after being drafted by the Akron Racers in 2000. She also earned her master’s in athletic administration from Central Michigan in 2005. A native of Wentzville, Mo., Gentile played softball at Wentzville High School (Holt) where her jersey has been retired. Gentile and her wife, Courtney, have four daughters, Hope, Tatum, Bailee, and Addison. Updated July 2025

Jim Halliburton was named the swimming and diving assistant coach on September 1, 2022. Halliburton spent 21 years as the head coach at St. Louis University and brings a tremendous amount of experience to the Bears. He built a record of 582-188-1 (.756) at SLU, ranking fourth all-time on the NCAA Division I victories list. He has also been the Head Coach of Flyers Aquatic Swim team since 2011.   In his time at SLU, Halliburton turned the squad around, mentoring a women's team that was 2-40 from 1998-2001 that then went unbeaten in dual-meet competition for three straight seasons, notching 60 consecutive victories.   The SLU women have posted a 308-98-1 record under Halliburton's guidance while the men have gone 274-90. Swimmers at SLU set school records in all 21 events and broken school records on 491 occasions. Additionally, the Billikens have captured 20 individual conference championships, five relays championships and posted 28 NCAA B cuts during Halliburton's tenure. From 1982 to 2011, Halliburton was the Head Swim Coach and Aquatics Director for the Rockwood School District where he taught and coached the aquatic sports teams for Eureka High School and Marquette High School. He was named Region 8 Coach of the Year a record seven times and coached Marquette High School to three state swimming and diving titles. Additionally, Halliburton coached the Rockwood Swim Club to the 18 and Under National Title in 1999.   In 2009, Halliburton was inducted to the Missouri Athletic Club Hall of Fame for his age group and high school coaching achievements. That same year, he was the 11th swimmer inducted into the Ozark Swimming Hall of Fame for his swimming career. Finally, in 2018, he was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in Springfield for his college coaching achievements.   A Ladue native, Halliburton won eight state titles during his swimming career and is still the lone Missouri high school swimmer to go undefeated. His 100 butterfly state record survived for 13 years and his 200 freestyle state record remained unbroken for 19 years.   Halliburton went on to swim at Indiana University where he was a four-time All-American and seven-time Big Ten champion. He was the No. 1 100 butterfly swimmer in the world, twice, and was a member of the USA national team from 1978-82, captaining the team in 1982. Additionally, Halliburton has competed in U.S. Masters Swimming, winning 14 gold medals at the 2010 St. Louis Senior Olympics.   Halliburton holds a bachelor's degree in physical education and psychology from Indiana University. Updated July 2025