Brown’s Olivia Pichardo becomes the first woman to star in Div. I baseball game

Brown freshman Olivia Pichardo made NCAA history Friday, becoming the first woman to appear in a Division I baseball game, according to the school.

The New York City freshman came on as a pinch hitter with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning and grounded to first base in what ended up being a 10-1 loss for Bryant in Providence, Rhode Island.

“I hope it shows people that if a player is talented enough to get the opportunity, they should be judged solely on their baseball ability. No other factor should come into play. And Liv is an example of that,” says Brown coach Grant Achilles. said.

“It doesn’t just take her to put in all the work and effort. It takes a network of people who have supported her along the way. It takes teammates. Her teammates are a special group for both of them to realize how “This moment is historic, but also to hold her as a teammate accountable to our standard as a baseball player. And I think the best thing for me is that she’s a teammate. They don’t treat her with white gloves.” because it’s different. They work to navigate the space with her as an individual, and that’s how she makes our team better by giving her best every day, pushing others and then that have a unique dynamic.

“So when it comes to how other teams and other girls will hopefully use Olivia as motivation for that, I think it’s not something you can do on your own.”

Pichardo became the first woman to make an active NCAA Division I baseball varsity roster in the fall.

Achilles said at the time that he was impressed with her physical abilities during her first tryout and in subsequent practices, calling it the “most complete walk-on tryout I’ve seen from a player” since he left in 2012 became Brown’s coach.

Pichardo was a pitcher and outfielder for the US baseball women’s team in the summer and previously played varsity baseball in Queens.

Brown dropped to 1-10 with Friday’s home opening loss.