Texas State's Osterman selected to 2020 USA Softball Olympic Team

Bobcat Athletics

Jayme Blaschke | October 10, 2019

Texas State associate head softball coach Cat Osterman has been selected to represent the USA softball team at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

"Today was an exciting morning," Osterman said. "To see your name on the final list is still exhilarating no matter how many times you go through the process. I am so excited for the next process and to move to working towards our goal of bringing a gold medal home."

The 2020 Olympic Games will be the third in the storied career of Osterman. She made her Olympic debut in the 2004 Games in Athens, a year in which Team USA secured Gold. Her return to the Olympic stage saw a disappointing Silver finish in the 2008 Games in Beijing. The '08 Olympics were the last to include softball until 2020.

She also competed in two World Championships and three Pan American games. She helped guide the USA team to gold medals in the 2003 Pan Am Games, 2004, the 2006 Worlds, 2007 Pan Am Games, 2010 Worlds, and the 2019 Pan Am Games.

Prior to hitting the national stage, Osterman turned in four dominant seasons at the collegiate level at the University of Texas. She became the only three-time winner of the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year in 2003, 2005 and 2006. She was named NFCA First-Team All-America three times, earned an ESPY in 2005 and 2006 as the Top Collegiate Female Athlete, collected four Big-12 Pitcher of the Year awards, and was honored as conference pitcher of the week a league-record 25 times. She led the Longhorns to three Women's College World Series appearances, again in 2003, 2005 and 2006, and played her way to WCWS all-tournament honors two times.

Team USA will continue training throughout the fall before touring starting in the first week of February. As part of the tour, Team USA will take on Texas State at the 2020 NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Fla. The Bobcats will see Osterman in uniform on 11 a.m. CT on Feb. on Feb. 9.

"This has been an incredible process that has taken years of evaluation about great people that play softball at the highest level," Team USA head softball coach Ken Eriksen. "It should be extremely exhilarating for the most knowledgeable in the softball community to understand what it takes to form a team that includes experience and ability. All 29 players that accepted an invitation to these trials displayed class and dignity along with an incredible passion to represent the United States on the field. Everyone that was on the field in Oklahoma City this week earned their place in the trials. There was no selfishness here and that was an incredible observation amongst all that watched."

In Tokyo, Team USA will join No. 2 Japan, No. 3 Canada, No. 5 Mexico, No. 7 Australia and No. 9 Italy as the field of six countries competing for the Gold.