The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Osterman named 2006 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year
05.31.2006 | Softball
OKLAHOMA CITY -- For the third time in her career, University of Texas pitcher Cat Osterman (Houston, Texas) was honored as the 2006 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, receiving the award Wednesday night at the Opening Ceremonies of the 2006 NCAA Women's College World Series. The ceremonies took place at the Don Porter ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, site of the WCWS. The USA Softball Player of the Year award is presented by The Amateur Softball Association, the National Governing Body of Softball in US.
This marks the third time Osterman has received the sports' highest award after being honored in 2003 as a sophomore and 2005 as a junior. Osterman is the only player to receive USA Softball's National Player of the Year honors more than once.
This season, the 2004 Athens Olympic gold medalist has led the Longhorns to a 54-7 overall record, the Big 12 regular season championship and their first ever No. 1 ranking earlier this season (in April). Her pitching performances have helped lead Texas to the No. 3 seed in the WCWS, which runs June 1-7 at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. This marks the third time in her career that Texas has advanced to Oklahoma City for the Women's College World Series - all three years that she earned National Player of the Year accolades.
Osterman is 37-2 to date and heads into the WCWS leading the nation in strikeouts with 590 which is an average of 15.5 per seven innings, runs allowed with only 14, hits allowed (66) and has the nation's lowest ERA with a 0.39 earned run average. She also has posted 27 shutouts.
This year, she also set the NCAA career strikeout mark and became the first player to surpass 2,000 strikeouts. Osterman currently has 2,225. In the process this year, she set UT single season records for victories, shutouts and complete games (33).
"This award is just a testament to what we as a team have been trying to accomplish all year, and we still have some work to do this week. I am very excited and honored to be recognized with this award for the third time, especially with the quality of players I was standing next to tonight," noted Osterman, who was one of three finalists along with two other pitchers, Arizona senior Alicia Hollowell and Tennessee junior Monica Abbott.
"This (award) could have gone to any of us up there, as they each have had incredible seasons. Both Alicia and Monica are strong competitors. Of course, in my senior year, I wanted to go out strong and work hard to the best I could. When I heard my name called, I just smiled and looked at my teammates. I knew they were behind me the whole season. I also was really happy to have my parents and my brother Chris here tonight to see me receive this, as they were not able to be here for this (ceremony) previously."
In the first game of the NCAA Regional versus UT-San Antonio Osterman struck out 18 of 24 batters she faced and during the Super Regional she did not allow an earned run while striking out 27 in a 2-0 sweep of Washington that punched their ticket to Oklahoma City. On the opening day of the Super Regional against Washington, she tied her own school record for wins in a season (36) and set a new record on day two with her 37th win. With 11 strikeouts in the final Super Regional game, a 9-1 six-inning UT victory, Osterman moved to No. 4 in the NCAA record books for strikeouts in a single season with 590.
"Cat has had a tremendous season and career at Texas, and for her to receive this honor this season is really fitting, because I think this has been her most consistent season for us," noted Texas head coach Connie Clark. "We are all proud of her. Cat is such a great ambassador for not only for our softball program and for The University of Texas, but for the sport of softball overall."
A replica of the award will be placed in a permanent display in the ASA National Softball Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, along with photos of the winner. An additional replica of the award will be presented to the player's academic institution at a designated event in the fall.
