When Olivia Pichardo arrived at Brown University, she was chasing a lifelong dream: to play college baseball.

As a walk-on who earned a spot on the Brown baseball roster in 2023, Pichardo became the first woman to compete on an NCAA Division I varsity baseball team. Every practice, every appearance, and every milestone attracted national attention. But while the rest of the baseball world focused on the significance of being first, Pichardo spent her years focused on something else entirely.

She just wanted to be a baseball player.

“I was only focused on being the best baseball player that I could be,” Pichardo said. “If no one thought I earned it, I wanted to prove to them that I did. Ultimately, the only people’s opinions who I cared about at the end of the day were my teammates and my coaches, the ones who saw me every single day.”

Now, after graduating from Brown, Pichardo is beginning a new chapter as a graduate transfer with the University of California, Berkeley softball program, trading the baseball diamond for a softball field for the first time in her athletic career.

The opportunity came after Pichardo learned that NCAA athletes who compete in one sport are eligible for an additional year in another. After taking batting practice with fellow 2026 Women’s National Team Training Camp invitee and Brown softball player Maggie Foxx during the spring semester, Pichardo realized she couldn’t pass it up.

“The first swing I took, I felt like I wasn’t trying that hard, but I hit a frozen rope over the center field fence,” she said. “I was like, ‘There’s no way that I should pass up this opportunity and this extra year.”

Although she’ll be learning a new sport, Pichardo is confident the foundation she’s built through years of baseball will translate.

“I think that my skill set will transfer well to the softball field,” she said. “Swinging a heavier bat has made me swing softball bats much harder.”

While Pichardo is excited about what’s ahead, the transition has also given her time to reflect on everything baseball has given her. Looking back, she says she’s finally able to appreciate an experience she rarely had time to process while living it.

“Now that I've graduated, I can be really grateful for the entire experience,” Pichardo said.

Despite becoming one of the most recognizable figures in college baseball, Pichardo never viewed herself through the lens of history.

“I always knew there was going to be some publicity surrounding me being on the team and making game appearances,” she said. “But that was never a strong thought that was in my head while I was on the baseball team at Brown. In hindsight, I’m super grateful for the experience, and I feel like I can look back and be proud of everything that I’ve done.”

Instead, she points to something less visible as her proudest accomplishment.

“I think I’m most proud of the amount of mental toughness that I’ve had over those four years,” she said.

Balancing the demands of an Ivy League education with Division I athletics would have been challenging enough. Add the attention that came with being the first woman to compete in Division I baseball, and Pichardo quickly learned how to navigate circumstances unlike those faced by almost any other student-athlete.

“It definitely took a lot,” she said. “I had a pretty difficult first semester, then making the baseball team and trying to balance all of it made it uniquely difficult for me. After that, I think I was prepared for everything else that was thrown my way throughout the rest of the years.”

That resilience has become one of the greatest lessons she’ll carry into her future.

Amid every new challenge and opportunity, USA Baseball has always been a constant.

Since entering USA Baseball’s girls’ development pipeline at 14 years old, Pichardo has represented the United States on the Women’s National Team four times while continuing to develop through events such as the Trailblazer Series and the MLB GRIT: Girls ID Tour.

Every USA Baseball experience became another opportunity to grow.

“Every time I went to a new event, I always learned something new,” Pichardo said. “I always found a new routine to integrate, a new drill, and a new mental cue that was introduced to me from the amazing coaches I’ve worked with since I was 14. The coaching development there was always really strong, and I always looked forward to learning from them.”

Growing up in Queens, New York, Pichardo spent most of her childhood as the only girl on her baseball team. It wasn’t until she attended her first girls’ baseball event that she realized there were others chasing the same dream.

“I didn’t know that other girls even played baseball,” she said. “I didn’t know what to expect at all. It gave me a new motivation to continue with baseball and try to be better.”

Those events also gave her friendships that remain some of the most meaningful of her career.

“Some of my best memories in my life right now are playing with the USA [Baseball] Women’s National Team,” Pichardo said. “I’ve built some of the best friendships here that I’ll ever have.”

Before beginning her graduate season at California, Pichardo will once again wear the red, white, and blue. She and the 2026 Women’s National Team will train in Chicago before traveling to Rockford, Illinois, for the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Women’s Baseball World Cup Group Stage. Team USA opens tournament play against Korea on July 22 at 8:00 p.m. ET.

Although she has become a role model for young girls across the country, Pichardo admits she doesn’t spend much time thinking about the impact she’s made.

“Honestly, I don’t think about it that much,” she said. “I’ve always understood that would naturally make me a pioneer by default, but I think I’m still in the mindset of trying to focus on my own development.”

Still, she recognizes how much the baseball landscape has changed since she was a young player looking for someone who looked like her.

“When I was little, I didn't have very many women baseball role models,” she said. “I think it’s really great to see that these younger girls have people like me and other female baseball trailblazers to look up to.”

As she prepares to wear a different uniform and play a different sport, Pichardo is looking forward to one experience she’s only had in brief stretches throughout her career.

“I would say having all-female teammates for more than just two weeks out of the year,” she said in reference to her next adventure on the West Coast. “I’ve always enjoyed my time playing with the Women’s National Team. Some of my best memories are with them, and it sucks that I only get to see them a couple weeks every summer. I’m very excited to be fully integrated with a college sports team of all girls.”

Her next chapter may unfold on a softball field, but the lessons that prepared her for it were learned in baseball. Throughout four years at Brown and her career with USA Baseball, Pichardo never focused on being the first. She focused on being the best player she could be. By simply chasing the game she loved, she broke barriers, inspired the next generation, and showed there is a place for anyone willing to pursue their dream.