Brown’s Pichardo pinch hits; 1st woman to play DI baseball

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Brown freshman Olivia Pichardo became the first woman to appear in a Division I baseball game when she pinch hit in a 10-1 loss to Bryant on Friday.

The left-handed batting utility player from Queens, New York, went to plate with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning and grounded out to first on the first pitch.

Pichardo was an outfielder and pitcher on the USA Baseball Women’s National Team that won three of five against Team Canada in its only games last summer. She walked on at Brown in the fall, and coach Grant Achilles told her she earned a roster spot in November.

Pichardo played club ball in the New York area and last year completed an internship in the New York Mets’ amateur scouting department. She played basketball and volleyball at the Garden School before attending Brown.

About a half-dozen women are known to have played baseball at junior colleges or lower-division four-year schools.

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