Coaching Staff

Crystl Bustos | Assistant Coach

Texas A&M University-Commerce softball coach Brittany Miller announced the hiring of Crystl Bustos, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and one of the most decorated athletes in softball history, as the Lions’ assistant coach in August 2022.

Bustos, known in the softball world as “the Big Bruiser” and the “Babe Ruth of Softball” has won three Olympic medals, including gold in 2000 and 2004, and won one World Championship Gold Medals, three Pan American Gold Medals, and two World Cup Championships. She has hit the most home runs in Olympic softball history and was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame and is also a member of the National Softball Hall of Fame.

The 2008 USA Softball Player of the Year has coached for Mt. SAC college, the Texas Charge of National Pro Fastpitch. She also played and coached alongside Miller with the Akron Racers. She is the owner of the Ruthless Softball organization, one of the premier clubs in California, Texas, Florida, and several other states.

At Mt. SAC, the team compiled the highest batting average in league history in .428 during the 2014 season.

In 2008 at the Beijing Olympics, she batted 11 for 22 with team-best six home runs and 10 RBIs. Her six home runs and 10 RBIs that season are both Olympic records. Bustos has hit 14 home runs in her three Olympic appearances, which is the record among all Olympic softball hitters.

In her three Olympic campaigns, Bustos scored 26 runs, hit 14 home runs, drove in 24 RBIs, with a batting average of .372.

Bustos played collegiately for Palm Beach Community College, winning two NJCAA National Championships and being named the NJCAA Player of the Year in both seasons. She hit an NJCAA record 23 home runs and the first athlete in school history to have her number retired.

Following her collegiate career, she enjoyed a storied professional and Olympic career, which includes the NPF’s Akron Racers, who were crowned champions in 2005, Women’s Pro Softball League, where she was named the league’s MVP while winning the championship with the Orlando Wahoos in 1998.

Her three gold medals at the Pan American Games came in 1993, 2003, and 2007, while she was part of the 2006 and 2007 World Cup Championship teams.

A native of Canyon Country, California, and the LA Times Valley Player of the Year for Canyon High School in 1994, Bustos now resides in Princeton.