The 37-year-old Fernandez was named a replacement player on the American team, which will attempt to win its fourth straight gold medal this summer. Fernandez was on the mound when the U.S. team won gold in Athens, completing a historic run through the tournament in which the Americans outscored the competition 51-1. Fernandez was also the starting pitcher when the U.S. won it all in Sydney in 2000. Four years earlier, she came in as a reliever when the Americans lcinched gold in Atlanta. “I have no regrets,” Fernandez said. “I know I gave it everything I had. There wasn’t a corner cut or a practice missed. I just ran out of time. To me, the most important thing is that I know I gave it everything I had. But there were certain things I couldn’t control.” She was making a comeback after missing three years of international competition to start a family and never quite got back to form. “I was really hoping she would get close to where she was in 2004,” said U.S. coach Mike Candrea. “She is still in my eyes the best player who has ever played this game. I wanted her to go out on top.” Candrea kept only three pitchers: returning gold medalists Jennie Finch and Cat Osterman, as well as first-time Olympian Monica Abbott. Alicia Hollowell, a hard-throwing right-hander who played for Candrea at Arizona, was also named a replacement player. Candrea will only make changes to his roster if there are injuries. He must submit it to the U.S. Olympic Committee for final approval by July 1.

She returned to the coaching staff in 2007 after taking two years off from the US National Team for the birth of her son and playing competitively during the past two summers as part of the launch of the PFX tour. She is one of five former Bruins to play on the 1996 gold-medal winning US Olympic Team and one of six Bruins included on the active roster for the gold medal winning squad of 2000. She was the top hitter and pitcher in the tournament, and led the US to a third consecutive gold medal in 2004 in Athens, Greece where she posted a .545 batting average which was a new record for an Olympic tournament.

Lisa Fernandez – Famous Softball PlayersDuring USA Softball’s “Central Park to Sydney Tour,” Fernandez pitched five straight perfect games, and in one of those games she struck out all 21 batters. At the 2000 Games, she posted a 0.47 ERA with 52 strikeouts.

In 1996, she shined in Team USA’s 3-1 gold medal win over China, where she recorded the final three outs to earn the save and secure the win. In the 2000, Sydney Games Fernandez pitched for the U.S. in both their victories against Australia (semifinal), and Japan (final.)

In 1999, she was named the Amateur Softball Association /USA Softball Female Athlete of the Year. As a pitcher and third baseman, she was on the USA Softball Women’s National Team that won gold medals at both the Pan American Games and the Canada Cup. She even helped the California Commotion win the ASA Women’s Major Fast Pitch championship for the fourth straight time.

Fernandez played at UCLA from 1990-1993 and completed her psychology degree in 1995. She has won the sport’s Honda Award three times and became the first softball player to win the important Honda-Broderick Cup, which recognizes the best college female athlete in sports, when she won the award in 1993. She is a four-time, first-team All American, who led the Bruins to two national championships (1990 & 1992) and two second place finishes (1991 &1993.) She was even All-Region and All-Pac-10 first-team each season and Pac-10 Player of the Year her final three years.

In her career, she has a 0.22 ERA and a 93-7 record with 784 strikeouts. Her ERA is second in NCAA history and her 74 shutouts are the most at UCLA and ninth in the history of NCAA. In her junior and senior seasons, she had the lowest ERA in the nation (.14 in 1992, 0.25 in 1993.) She had a perfect 29-0 mark in 92. She had 11 career no hitters, which includes a pair in the 1993 College World Series, and has two perfect games to her name.

She was powerful at the plate also, compiling a .382 batting record with 15 home runs and 128 runs batted in. She hit .401 in her junior season, and passed that mark by more than 100 points in her senior season, batting an NCAA-best .510 with 11 homers and 45 rbi’s. She is in the top 10 in UCLA history in many offensive categories, including fifth in average and fourth in strikeouts.