Although she had a relatively short fast pitch career-10 years, no one can’t say Donna Lopiano didn’t make the most of it. During that time, she earned All-America honors nine times and MVP laurels three times—1966, 1971 and 1972. In addition, she led the 1972 Women’s Fast Pitch National Tourney in batting with a .429 batting average for the Raybestos Brakettes. Twice she led the Brakettes in hitting, 1970 (.316) and 1972 (.367) and once held the team record for most homers in a season, eight. On the mound, she won 183 games and lost only 18 for a winning percentage of .910, the highest for a pitcher with 150 or more wins. She hurled 817 innings, struck out 1,633 batters and walked only 384. In national championship play, she had a 15-2 record and was a member of six national championship teams and four runners-up. Besides playing in national championships, she also played in the first ISF Women’s World Fast Pitch Championship in Melbourne, Australia in 1965, batting .345 for the Brakettes.An excellent student as an undergraduate, Lopiano has a Ph.D (1974) and Master’s degree (1969) from USC and a B.S. degree from Connecticut State College(1968). She served as the Director of Women’s Athletics at the University of Texas at Austin from 1975 to 1992 and as Chief Executive Officer of the Women’s Sports Foundation from 1992 to 2007.
