SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Olivia Pichardo made history last week when she took the mount for the Bears in Brown University's men's baseball game against Cornell.
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UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: First pitch from Pichardo fouled off by Beaulieu (ph) for strike one.
DETROW: The fourth-year student became the first woman to play NCAA Division I baseball. She faced just one batter.
SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
Here's ESPN with the historic call at the top of the ninth inning.
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UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: Pichardo comes to the set. The 0-1 pitch is swung on and grounded to short. Picked up by Luigs. He fires to first for the final out of the game.
(CHEERING)
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: Pichardo registers the final out on the mound for the Bears.
PFEIFFER: The two New England universities have faced each other almost 150 times over the past hundred years, and this was the first win with a woman on the mound.
DETROW: Pichardo's fastball tops 80 miles an hour. It earned her spots on three U.S. Women's national baseball teams in addition to her spot on the men's team at Brown. She made her collegiate baseball game debut in 2023, swinging against a fellow Rhode Island school.
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UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #2: And now batting for Brown. No. 19, Olivia Pichardo.
PFEIFFER: Pichardo is 5'7" tall, and when she's on the 10-inch pitcher's mound, she stands eye to eye with men, including some of the best players in the Ivy League.
DETROW: Now, women have played on men's collegiate baseball teams in the past, though with smaller schools in lower divisions. That paved the way for Pichardo.
PFEIFFER: When she spoke with NPR in 2022, she said she wanted to pay that forward.
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OLIVIA PICHARDO: My reason for playing baseball isn't to be a pioneer. But it definitely - it feels very good to know that I'm now opening up this door for them.
DETROW: A home run.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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