Former Texas star Cat Osterman named to 2019 USA Softball National Team

By Steve Lansdale

AUSTIN, Texas — One of the most celebrated players in University of Texas softball history has been named one of 18 players selected for a spot on the 2019 USA Softball Women's National Team (WNT) according to an announcement this week by the organization.

Two-time Olympian Cat Osterman and the rest of the 2019 team, chosen by members of the Women’s National Team Selection Committee (WNTSC), will compete in select tournaments and individual events before a final 15-player roster is selected for the Pan American Games.

Osterman is anything but the lone veteran on the National Team; each member of the 2019 squad, which includes two former Olympians, has competed before for her country, either on the National Team or the Junior Women’s National Team (JWNT).

Osterman was an unmatched star during her career at UT, a left-handed pitcher who was named USA Softball’s National Collegiate Player of the Year three times in her four seasons. She also was a four-time National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-America. In four years in Austin, she posted a career record of 136-25, with an earned run average of 0.51 and 2,265 strikeouts while helping the Longhorns reach the Women’s College World Series three times. She still holds the NCAA record for the best career strikeout-per-seven-innings rate (14.34), and is the only player in NCAA Div. I history to post the nation’s best earned run average (ERA) three times. She threw 20 no-hitters and seven perfect games while playing for UT.

Head coach Ken Erikson will lead No. 1-ranked USA Softball after being named the team’s coach in the fall.