Olivia Pichardo, a first-year student at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, has made history by being the first woman athlete in NCAA Division I history to be named to a varsity baseball team. Pichardo, from Queens, New York, made the team as a walk-on.
According to Baseball for All , a nonprofit working to improve gender equity in baseball and provide girls across the country opportunities to play, coach and lead within the sport, nearly 20 women have been members of collegiate baseball rosters at various schools, including eight for the 2023 season — but only Pichardo has made a baseball team at the NCAA Division I level.
“It was definitely a surreal moment for me because it’s something that I’ve wanted since eighth grade,” Pichardo said about making the team. “It’s kind of crazy to know that I’m living out my dream right now and my ideal college experience that I’ve always wanted, so that’s really cool.”
Pichardo is among 31 players on the Brown baseball Spring 2023 roster. She will serve as a utility player who can play both the infield and outfield when she and her teammates open their season on February 24, 2023, with a four-game series at Georgia State University.