Cat Osterman

As such, she set a national record for strikeouts in a game less than 20 innings, beating Jenny Stallard's previous record of 31 in 19 innings in 1978; she also set a national record for strikeouts in a 14-inning game, breaking Michele Granger's former record of 31 in 1985.

Osterman was named a National Fastpitch Coaches' Association Second Team All-American.

She was also named Big 12 Conference First Team, Big 12 Freshman of the Year and Big 12 Pitcher of the Year.

She broke and set UT single-season records for wins (led the NCAA), innings pitched, games started, shutouts, strikeouts, strikeout ratio (led the NCAA) and appearances.

Currently only her inning pitched and games started remain top season records from this year.

Her freshman ERA was and is a top-5 school record.

Osterman also set the UT single-game record for innings-pitched (14) and single game strikeouts.

She also tied the UT single-season record for complete games.

Osterman debuted on February 6, tossing six shutout innings, allowing two hits and fanning 11 of the Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Islanders.

In a March 20 no-decision against the Texas State Bobcats, she struck out 24 in over 10-innings for a career best.

That game also was and is a top-5 NCAA record for combined strikeouts at 34, which she shares with Nicole Neuerburg and tied Osterman fourth for an individual pitcher's total in a single game all-time.

Osterman became the first UT freshman to be named Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week, for the week of February 19, in which she threw two no-hitters.

The first, a 3–0 win over the Utah Utes on February 13 and then a 4–0 win over the Texas State Bobcats on February 15.

Catherine Leigh Osterman (born April 16, 1983) is a retired American softball player.

She attended Cypress Springs High School in Cypress, Texas from 1997 to 2001, where she set several records on the school's softball team.

In 2001, she struck out 33 batters in a 14-inning 1–0 shutout over Cy-Fair High School.

They were only the third and fourth no-hitters by a UT freshman, and Osterman became only the second Longhorn pitcher to accomplish the feat, along with Natalie King in 2001.

She also threw the first perfect game in UT history in a game against Stephen F. Austin State Lumberjacks on February 26.

She proceeded to throw two more in her freshman season to match and set two all-time NCAA Freshman Class records for season no-hitters (5) and perfect games (3), the latter record has since been surpassed.

Osterman repeated honors as an All-American, now a First Team selection, as well as Big 12 "Pitcher" and "Female Athlete" of The Year.

She also earned her first USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award.

Osterman threw 4 no-hitters and a perfect game, while breaking her own UT records for ERA, shutouts and strikeout ratio (all-time NCAA Sophomore Class record), of which she also led the NCAA in, except shutouts; the strikeout ratio was a new NCAA season record.

She also tied her own shared record for complete games and posted career records in wins (68), shutouts (35), strikeouts (1,042), and opponents-batting-average (.105).

From April 22 – May 22, she pitched a career high and UT record 65 consecutive scoreless innings.

The streak began with a win against the Texas A&M Aggies and was broken in a 3–2 win over the ULL Ragin' Cajuns; the streak ran over 12 games (7 complete) and 11 wins and included 115 strikeouts, 16 hits and 9 walks.

Osterman is so far the second pitcher in NCAA history to strike out 1,000 batters in only two seasons and in that very same game on May 22, during the Women's College World Series vs. the ULL Ragin' Cajuns, she struck out 11 to reach the milestone.

Osterman pitched on the United States women's national softball team that won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and silver medal at the 2008 and 2020 Summer Olympics.

She was a collegiate four-time All-American and six-time professional All-Star.

She completed her college eligibility in 2006 at the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a starting pitcher for the Longhorns since 2002.

Osterman holds the Big 12 Conference pitching Triple Crown for her career wins, ERA, and strikeouts, as well as shutouts, no-hitters, WHIP, and perfect games; she also holds the NCAA Division I record for strikeout ratio (14.34).

In the National Pro Fastpitch, Osterman was drafted first overall and is the career leader in strikeout ratio (10.90) and no-hitters (6).

She is also one of NCAA's five pitchers to strikeout 1,000 batters with 100 wins, an ERA of under 1.00, and averaging double digit strikeouts.

She was a member of the independent "This Is Us" team.

The performance ranked 16th on the list of strikeouts in a single game.

In May 2020, she joined and eventually won the inaugural championship in the Athletes Unlimited Softball league as the top individual points leader.

Osterman was also named No. 3 Greatest College Softball Player and the No. 1 pitcher in NCAA history.

She started playing softball in first grade before quitting to play soccer and basketball.

Osterman found her way back to the diamond in fifth grade, when she was filling in as a backup pitcher for a little league team.

Osterman was born in Houston, Texas to parents Gary and Laura Osterman.

Her younger brothers are Craig and Chris.