Brown freshman is first woman to make Division I baseball roster

Olivia Pichardo is making history as the first female baseball player to be on an active NCAA Division I roster.

Pichardo was added to the Brown baseball team for the 2023 season on Monday.

The 18-year-old freshman made the Bears' roster as a utility player after trying out for the team this fall. Pichardo worked out as a middle infielder, outfielder and pitcher and made the varsity team as a walk-on.

"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," Pichardo said in a Brown University press release. "It's really paving the way for other girls in the next generation to also have these goals that they want to achieve and dream big and know that they can do it."

The Brown baseball team begins the 2023 spring season on Feb. 24 against Georgia State.

Pichardo participated in several of MLB’s youth programs, including the Breakthrough Series in 2018, ’19 and ’21. She was part of the 2019 MLB GRIT Girls Invitational, and she also participated in the Girls ID Tour in 2020 in New York, and in ’21 in Boston.

Pichardo previously played for the USA Baseball Women's National Team. She pitched and played the outfield.

The organization Baseball For All lists 16 women who have played college baseball prior to 2022, but Pichardo is the first at the Division I level.

Pichardo, a Queens native and former intern in the Mets' amateur scouting department, threw out the ceremonial first pitch for the Mets on Women's Day at Citi Field in August.