Borders Goes Five Innings in First Start

Ila Borders became the first woman to start for a minor league baseball team Thursday night, pitching five innings and giving up three runs for the Duluth-Superior Dukes.

Borders, who last year became the first woman to pitch in a regular-season minor league game, started against the Sioux Falls Canaries, who won 8-3.

Borders took the loss after giving up five hits and two walks. She struck out two, throwing 71 pitches, 43 for strikes.

She received a huge ovation as she left the mound in the first inning.

Groundbreaking accomplishments are nothing new for Borders. She was the baseball MVP at Whittier Christian High in La Habra before becoming the first woman to receive a college baseball scholarship when she moved on to Southern California College.

Borders transferred to Whittier College for her senior season.

She has made 21 relief appearances in two seasons, first with the St. Paul Saints and then with the Dukes, both in the Northern League, after a midseason trade last summer.