Jessica Mendoza

On January 13, 2016, ESPN officially named Jessica Mendoza to the Sunday Night Baseball team as an analyst. The announcement was made after a historic 2015 for Mendoza, who became the first female analyst for a nationally televised MLB Postseason game on October 6, 2015: AL Wild Card Game on ESPN. A few months prior, she became the first female ESPN MLB game analyst during the August 24, 2015 edition of Monday Night Baseball. She appeared on several Sunday Night Baseball telecasts during the stretch run of the season. Her groundbreaking 2015 also included the accolade of becoming the first female analyst for a Men’s College World Series telecast.

One of the most notable softball players in the last decade, Mendoza’s on-field experience has seamlessly translated to television. She joined ESPN in 2007 and in addition to her MLB contributions, she has served as an analyst and a reporter for the Men’s College World Series, the NCAA Women’s College World Series and is also a sideline reporter for college football. She has also contributed content to espnW.

Prior to her work with ESPN, Mendoza was a field reporter for Yahoo! Sports at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games and also served as the lead college softball analyst on FOX Sports. She has relationships with several brands, including T-Mobile, Reebok, Under Armour and Starwood Hotels, among others.

Mendoza is a two-time Olympian and was a member of the U.S. Women’s National team from 2001-10. Her team took home the Gold Medal in Athens, Greece (2004) and the Silver Medal in Beijing, China (2008). She is both a three-time World Champion (2002, 2006, 2010) and World Cup Champion (2006, 2007, 2010), in addition to being a two-time Pan American Gold Medalist (2003, 2007). In 2006, she was named the USA Softball Athlete of the Year and was also recognized in 2008 as the Women’s Sports Foundation Sportswoman of the Year.

Mendoza was a four-time first team All-American while playing outfield at Stanford University. She led the Cardinals to their first-ever Women’s College World Series Appearance and finished her college career with school records that are still held today in: batting average (.475), hits (.94), stolen bases (31), runs (71) and career home runs (50). She was a three-time Stanford Female Athlete of the Year and a First team Academic All-American in 2002.

Mendoza graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies in 2002 and a Masters in Social Sciences in Education in 2003. She is originally from Camarillo, California.