When Jillian Albayati ran from the Cal State softball field in San Marcos to the bullpen of the school’s nearby baseball field to warm up for her second game, in a second sport, in nearly one hour, she was on the verge of making history, and at the same time, fulfilling a lifelong dream.
“You dream about it when you’re a little girl,” Albayati said Athleticism. “Just being able to have this opportunity in college. Girls dream of having this opportunity in high school. So it means a lot to me, especially to inspire other girls who want to play in college and even high school. It means everything to me.
When Albayati, a sophomore, came out of the bullpen to pitch during the Cougars’ final inning of the afternoon in an 18-2 loss to Sonoma State last Sunday, she did something what only one college athlete had accomplished before: playing softball. and a baseball game on the same day.
Christina Elsbury, a Division III student at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., was the first to achieve this feat when she threw during a baseball and softball game on April 22, 2023. Albayati’s rapid athletic change made her the first Division II athlete to participate in both a softball and baseball game on the same day.
As Albayati rushed to warm up, her softball teammates, who had just won via grand slam, became her cheering section.
“It was awesome,” Albayati said. “My whole softball team was running to the bullpen to follow me. They all went crazy when I was warming up and finally got on the mound. All the guys too. Once we got into the bullpen, they were all really excited for me, they were just going crazy. …And even the parents too. It was just a great atmosphere.
Albayati arrived just in time to relax her arm before taking the field with one goal in mind: make three outs. She ended up throwing 24 pitches against seven batters, while allowing three hits and one run.
Despite the lopsided score, the Cal State San Marcos baseball team, hampered by injuries to its pitching staff, was happy to have a reinforcement. Albayati’s feat was born from the need for a healthy and experienced arm.
In the week leading up to the team’s game, Cal State San Marcos baseball coach Jose Garcia spoke candidly with softball coach Stef Ewing about the number of injuries his pitchers were dealing with. Ewing immediately thought of a solution: Albayati.
Albayati, a native of Anaheim, Calif., was not in unfamiliar territory on the baseball field. Far from it, in fact.
She played baseball and softball at Anaheim High. As a senior, she held a 12–0 record as a pitcher for the baseball team and became the first girl to pitch in a California Interscholastic Federation and Southern Section championship game. Albayati received an honorary ESPY for women in sports and threw out the first pitch to Los Angeles Angels And Los Angeles Dodgers Games.
She was a pitcher and outfielder for the United States women’s national baseball team and was invited to play for the Savannah Bananas this summer.
The decision to add Albayati to the bullpen was an easy one for Garcia.
“There was a real need on our side, and there was a real desire on his part to do it,” Garcia said. “We felt like it made a lot of sense.” But for me to be a part of that was pretty cool. Quite a special moment to be able to hand him this baseball, being the new father of a one month old daughter.
“It will be something I can talk to my daughter about at some point later, and something I will never forget.”
Ewing said it meant a lot that Garcia was willing to have Albayati join the team.
“I think there was a time in the world where if I had said that, everyone would have just said, ‘Stop!'” Ewing said. “Instead, he definitely thought, OK, let’s see her throw.”
Once Garcia saw Albayati pitch, he was sold. Being able to close out the baseball game was something Ewing, who was named to Oregon State’s 2006 All-Pac 10 Freshman team and has been in the game for decades, had yet to do experience.
“I’ve never seen anything or heard anything like it,” Ewing said of Albayati’s historic day. “I think the best thing about it is that she played baseball at such a high level, for so long. And then softball came late for her.
“Which I think is a lot more trendy now. I played baseball growing up and then switched to softball. But it was about middle school age and it was very rare to see girls playing baseball, but there were a handful. And I think the trend is that more and more girls are playing baseball.
Garcia was noncommittal when asked if Albayati would make another appearance with the baseball team, but the Cougars are still not at full strength.
“If that means Jill continues to be active on our roster to maybe give us another round here or there in the next few weeks, then we’ll continue to explore that,” he said.
“So (Wednesday) she threw a bullpen. And with the idea that you never know if it will be active this weekend or the following week.
If this opportunity presents itself to her, she will likely approach it with the same attention as her first outing with the baseball team.
“I definitely had more enthusiasm in me than nerves,” Albayati said. “But once I got on the mound, it was more like I was here to do a job and throw strikes. I wasn’t distracted by everything going on around me.
(Photo: Greg Siller/Active7Media)