A Victoria baseball team has made history, with a university student becoming the first female to take the mound in the West Coast League.

Claire Eccles, 19, pitched the eighth and ninth innings at Victoria's Royal Athletic Park as the Victoria HarbourCats fell to the Wenatchee AppleSox 9-0 Wednesday night.

With her appearance, Eccles enters the history books as the first female to ever play in the West Coast League.

In her two innings, Eccles gave up two earned runs, one hit and walked one batter.

Eccles, a University of British Columbia student heading in to her third year, signed with the Victoria HarbourCats in the spring, becoming the first woman to join the team and league.

The teenager has played at two Women's Baseball World Cups and the 2015 Pan Am Games before signing with the Victoria club.

The West Coast League is seen as a prestigious summer league for collegiate baseball players, and several professional Major League Baseball players have cut their teeth in the league.

The 11-team circuit is comprised of male university players in Canada, Washington State and Oregon.

"I just wanted to play," Eccles told reporters after the game. "There was a lot of media beforehand. I just wanted to go out and show I could compete."

Eccles is known for her knuckleballs, a specialist pitch that is thrown to minimize the spin of the ball in flight which can lead to an erratic motion. HarbourCats management admitted her handle of the knuckleball was one of the primary reasons they signed her in the spring.

"Most of them worked," she said after her Wednesday night outing.

Despite the losing score, Victoria's manager says he's taking the positives from Eccles' performance.

"I think being able to get in and perform in this situation is going to make her better for the next time she takes the mound," said manager Brian McRae. "I don't think she'll need to be nervous anymore."

Much had been made of Eccles signing, but she had downplayed the attention heading in to the season.

"I'm here to play. I'm here to fight for the innings that I'll pitch," she had said, in a previous interview with CTV Vancouver.