Meaggan Pettipiece was hired in September 2022 as head coach of the Valpo softball program and enters her second season at the helm in 2024. Pettipiece came to Valpo with over a decade of experience as a collegiate head coach, most recently at the Division I level as head coach at Akron.

In Pettipiece's first season at the helm of the Beacons, six of Valpo's eight returning players saw improvements in their OPS from 2022 to 2023, with those six players averaging a 125-point jump in their OPS. Pettipiece guided Valpo to just the second regular season series win in program history over UIC, a history which spans four different conferences, as well as the team's second series win over Bradley since joining the MVC.

Pettipiece took over as head coach at Akron in August 2019 and served as the Zips’ head coach the next three seasons. She revamped the culture within the program and guided the team through the COVID-19 pandemic. On the field, the program won 13 games in MAC play in 2022 after winning just three the season prior to Pettipiece’s arrival. A pair of freshmen from her first full recruiting class were MAC All-Freshman Team honorees in 2022, one of whom was a Second Team All-MAC choice as well.

Prior to her time at Akron, Pettipiece spent three seasons (2017-2019) as an assistant coach at Kent State, where she worked primarily on baserunning, with the outfielders defensively and with the slappers offensively. In her three seasons with the Golden Flashes, Kent State made a pair of postseason appearances, including an NCAA Tournament trip in 2017 following a MAC Tournament title. Pettipiece mentored a pair of All-MAC outfielders and helped the program’s offense and fielding reach new heights.

Pettipiece served as head coach for 10 seasons (2007-2016) at Northwood University. She won 217 games over her 10 years at the helm of the Timberwolves program, including 138 wins in GLIAC play — a program record for conference wins by a head coach. Her 2011 team won a program-record 19 games in conference action. Pettipiece coached 14 All-Conference and two All-Region honorees in her time at Northwood, while her 2013 and 2014 teams both ranked in the top-10 nationally among D-II programs for team GPA.

A two-time All-American and two-time Academic All-American, Pettipiece played collegiately at California University of Pennsylvania, helping the Vulcans win the Division II national championship in 1998. A multi-sport athlete, Pettipiece also played basketball and tennis for Cal U. After her graduation in 2000, she stayed in the program as an assistant coach through 2006. 

Pettipiece’s playing career went beyond college softball, as she played softball in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney as a member of Team Canada and was an alternate for the 2004 Olympic squad. She earned two silver medals at the Pan-American Games in 1999 and 2003 and was a silver medalist with Team Canada at the 2001 Pan-American Softball Championships. Pettipiece also played professionally for the Michigan Ice of National Pro Fastpitch.

Pettipiece earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from California University of Pennsylvania in 2000 and went on to receive a Master of Science in the Sports Management program at Cal U in 2006.