(Mental Floss) -- While the horse racing world is all abuzz over Rachel Alexandra, the amazing three-year-old filly who recently beat Kentucky Derby winner Mine that Bird (along with a field full of other colts) in the Preakness Stakes, we're reminded of some other female athletes of the two-legged variety who also beat the boys at their own game.



Danica Patrick finished third at the 2009 Indianapolis 500 on Saturday.



1. Billie Jean King -- tennis



In 1973, Billie Jean King was 29 years old and the reigning queen of women's tennis. In an era when female athletes were paid significantly less than their male counterparts, King still managed to earn $100,000 in 1971.



Bobby Riggs had won Wimbledon back in 1939, but by the 1970s his star was fading. He kept his name in the press by proclaiming himself a male chauvinist pig and declaring that women athletes could never be as good as men. After defeating Margaret Court in May, he proclaimed "I want King!"



The much-hyped "Battle of the Sexes" was held at the Houston Astrodome on September 20, 1973. The idea of a woman beating a man in any sport was so unbelievable at the time that Las Vegas oddsmakers heavily favored the 55-year-old Riggs.



A worldwide television audience watched via satellite as King neatly thrashed Riggs 6-4, 6-3 and 6-3. Billie Jean King not only took home the prize money and several endorsement deals, she also opened up a new playing field for professional sportswomen. Mental Floss: Song Elton John wrote for Billie Jean King



2. Margaret Murdock --shooting



Margaret Murdock's father was a Kansas state rifle champion, so it was logical that both she and her sister took up the sport as children. When Murdock attended Kansas State in the early 1960s, she won her varsity letter by competing on the men's rifle team.



In 1976 she became the first woman to represent the U.S. on its Olympic shooting team.



The small-bore three position competition calls for the shooter to fire off 40 shots each in the standing, kneeling and prone position. The competitors fire from 50 meters away at a target that is a little smaller than a dime.



At the end of the competition, Murdock was tied with Lanny Bassham, the team captain. Bassham requested a tie-breaking shoot-off, but Olympic rules forbade it; instead, Bassham was awarded the gold medal because he had scored three "100s" to Murdock's two.



During the medal ceremony, Lanny pulled Margaret up from the silver pedestal to stand with him during the national anthem to indicate that she deserved the gold as much as he.



3. Jackie Mitchell -- baseball



Virne Beatrice Mitchell, known to her family as "Jackie," entered the world ahead of schedule and weighed only a little over three pounds at birth. As soon as she learned to walk, her father took her to the ballpark.



The Mitchell's next door neighbor in Memphis was future Hall of Famer Dazzy Vance, who was still playing in the minors at the time. He coached Jackie in the art of pitching when she was eight years old and even showed her his trademark "drop pitch," a dazzling throw in which the ball swooped down just before crossing the plate.



When Mitchell was 17 she was offered a contract with the Chattanooga Lookouts, today the AA affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers.



On April 1, 1931, the New York Yankees were in town to play an exhibition game against the Lookouts. The game was postponed a day due to rain, and there was a crowd of 4,000 on hand when Mitchell finally took the mound.



Babe Ruth stepped up to the plate and southpaw Jackie threw her special pitch. Ruth took the first pitch for a ball, but the next three were strikes. Lou Gehrig, baseball's Iron Man, was up next and similarly struck out. The crowd was on its feet, but some skeptical reporters wrote that the whole thing had been staged, since the game was originally scheduled for April
when was the race? Who is the female pitcher that struck out Babe Ruth?
September 20, 1973. Jackie Mitchell
question: when was the race?, answer: September 20, 1973. | question: Who is the female pitcher that struck out Babe Ruth?, answer: Jackie Mitchell