The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Trio of former Longhorns lead USSSA Pride to NPF championship
08.29.2013 | Softball
Cat Osterman earns championship series Most Valuable Player honors.
ROSEMONT, Ill. – Former University of Texas standouts Cat Osterman, Megan Willis and Blaire Luna led the USSSA Pride to its second National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) championship this past weekend in Rosemont, Ill. The Pride overcame a 1-0 series deficit to win back-to-back games on Saturday and claim the title over the Chicago Bandits.
After suffering a 3-2 defeat to the Bandits on Friday night, the Pride gave the ball to Osterman for game two of the series with elimination on the line. Osterman threw a four-hit shutout (her second complete-game performance of the NPF playoffs) with six strikeouts to lead USSSA to a 5-0 victory and force a deciding game three later that same evening.
In the final game of the series, the Pride got on the board in the top of the second inning when Kristyn Sandberg scored on Andrea Duran's RBI double. Sandberg extended the cushion to 2-0 in the fourth with a solo home run. The Bandits answered with a single run in the bottom of the fourth, when Alisa Goler hit an RBI single to bring home Eri Yamada.
With the Pride clinging to a 2-1 lead and the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Osterman relieved starter Keilani Ricketts in the circle. Osterman promptly struck out Goler to end the threat. The former three-time National Player of the Year while at Texas, Osterman tossed a scoreless final 2.1 innings and closed out the contest with a strikeout of Megan Wiggins (the league's regular season MVP) to secure the title for the Pride.
Osterman was named the Series Most Valuable Player for the second time in her NPF career, tossing a total of 9.1 scoreless innings while allowing five hits and striking out eight.
In her sixth season in the NPF and fourth with the Pride, Osterman was awarded regular-season Pitcher of the Year after leading the league in starts (19), innings pitched (139.1), strikeouts (234) and tying for first in wins (17) and complete games (15).
Willis won her second championship with the Pride after joining the team in 2010. The backup catcher batted .256 on the season with seven RBI.
Newcomer Blaire Luna, fresh off leading UT to an appearance in the Women's College World Series in June, pitched the majority of her innings in relief. The former All-American posted a 1-1 mark with a 2.85 ERA and struck out 17 in 19.1 innings during her debut professional season.
