She played for the Arizona Wildcats softball team from 1999 to 2002, where she won the 2001 Women's College World Series and was named collegiate All-American.

[4] Finch is ranked in several categories for both the Wildcats in the Pac-12 Conference and the NCAA Division I, where she was named #2 Greatest College Softball Player.

In August 2011, she started working at ESPN as a color commentator for National Pro Fastpitch and college softball games.

[13] At La Mirada High School, Finch lettered four times in softball and twice each in basketball and volleyball.

[15] As a sophomore, she was an All-California Interscholastic Federation Division II choice in softball[14] and All-Suburban League selection.

[19] Though they made the World Series, Finch and the Wildcats were eventually eliminated by the DePaul Blue Demons on May 29.

[21][22][23] She also threw three no-hitters and led the Wildcats in home runs and slugging percentage and achieved a career best in hits and batting average.

[24] After suffering her only losses in back-to-back games, Finch finished the year 8–0 starting a new streak with an April 29 victory vs. the Oregon Ducks that would span the next two seasons.

[33] On March 30, Finch hit two home runs and a double in an 11–1 romp of the Oregon Ducks to drive in a career best 9 RBIs, which tied her third all-time in the NCAA for a single game.

In a 1–0 shutout of the UCLA Bruins, Finch set an NCAA record with a perfect season capped with the National Championship.

[37] For a final season, Finch was named 2002 First Team for the NFCA and the Pac-10 conference as well as Pitcher of The Year and Honda Sports Award for softball.

[47] To open a return trip to the WCWS as defending champion, Finch shutout the Nebraska Cornhuskers and ended the game with her 1,000th career strikeout.

[58][failed verification] Finch was a member of the USA softball team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

As a pitcher she posted a 2–0 win–loss record striking out 13 batters in eight innings while giving up only one hit, one walk and no runs.

[57] The USA team started its bid for a fourth straight gold medal at the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing with Finch pitching four no-hit innings in an 11–0 victory over Venezuela.

[62]Finch pitched for the Chicago Bandits of the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) softball league.

Finch won 15 consecutive games with 104.1 innings pitched, allowing 51 hits, 12 earned runs, 21 walks and whiffing 127 batters to post a 0.80 ERA and 0.69 WHIP.

The Chicago Bandits played their home games in Rosemont, Illinois, at 27 Jennie Finch Way where her jersey is also retired.

[70] In 2002, ESPN called Finch the "runaway winner" of the Best Dressed competition at the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards.

[75] In a segment called the Jennie Challenge, Finch pitches to Major League Baseball players and often strikes them out.

"[76] In the 2004 Pepsi All-Star Softball Game, Finch struck out Albert Pujols, Mike Piazza and Brian Giles.

"[59] In 2006, Finch appeared in Season One of Pros vs Joes on Spike TV, a show in which sports stars compete with ordinary people.

[80] In 2008, Finch was featured as a contestant on The Celebrity Apprentice where she selected International Breast Cancer Research Foundation as her charity.

[83] In 2008, Finch also served as the Grand Marshal of the nationally televised McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade in downtown Chicago.

Finch turned down large financial offers to appear in magazines like Playboy because of her Christian faith, saying she wanted to be a role model for young women.

[94] Finch has spoken about her faith, saying: "It's so important to find hope in [Jesus] and live for a higher purpose: to share about Him.

[97] She continued playing with the Chicago Bandits until the National Pro Fastpitch season ended in August.

[9][97][97] "She set the standard for softball in a new era of being able to be feminine and play this sport," U.S. outfielder Jessica Mendoza said.

[9] "Not that you have to be feminine to play this sport, but I see hundreds of thousands of little girls now with glitter headbands, hot pink bats, makeup.

"[97] A Chicago Tribune editorial commented, "She leaves with a spotless personal reputation, an intent to keep promoting softball, and the knowledge that she has inspired other girls and women who play for the love of the game.