Who is Olivia Pichardo? Meet the player who broke the glass ceiling to become the first female baseball player in D-1 college baseball

The baseball player has made history (Images via @_OliviaPichardo on Twitter)
The baseball player has made history (Images via @_OliviaPichardo on Twitter)

Olivia Pichardo has become the first female baseball player to make a Division I roster by being named to Brown University's roster. No other woman had played college baseball in Division I before now.

According to Yahoo! Sports, the baseball player, who pitches, plays second base and the outfield, said:

“I’m just really glad that we’re having more and more female baseball players at the collegiate level, and no matter what division, it’s just really good to see this progression."

There have been other women who played college baseball, but it was at Division II or lower. Head coach Grant Achilles raved about Pichardo's talent:

"Olivia put together the most complete walk-on tryout I have seen from a player since becoming a head coach."

Brown opens its season on February 24, so barring anything unforeseen, Pichardo will make her debut then and officially shatter more records.


Who is Olivia Pichardo?

According to ESPN, she was a pitcher and outfielder (she has second base also listed in her Twitter bio) for the United States baseball women's national team. She played for them this last summer.

youtube-cover

She also played varsity baseball in Queens, New York prior to that. Additionally, played club baseball for both the New York Crush and Next Level baseball.

She was one of 31 total players named to Brown's opening day roster. Per ESPN, she said in a news release:

"It was definitely a surreal moment for me because it's something that I've wanted since eighth grade.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."
Hitting a baseball (Image via @_OliviaPichardo on Twitter)
Hitting a baseball (Image via @_OliviaPichardo on Twitter)

She continued:

"I'm just honestly trying to develop myself as a baseball player and not trying to think too broadly. For me, I always just wanted to play college baseball, no matter what division it was. This school happens to be a Division I team that I walked onto."

With the glass ceiling officially broken, it's possible more women will try out and end up making teams. This could effect all of baseball with it potentially even reaching Major League Baseball at some point.

If you use any of the above quotes, please credit ESPN, Yahoo! Sports and H/T Sportskeeda.

Edited by Zachary Roberts
Sportskeeda logo
Close menu
WWE
WWE
NBA
NBA
NFL
NFL
MMA
MMA
Tennis
Tennis
NHL
NHL
Golf
Golf
MLB
MLB
Soccer
Soccer
F1
F1
WNBA
WNBA
More
More
bell-icon Manage notifications