OU Softball: After Knee Injury, Oklahoma C Kinzie Hansen is Back for Texas

Following brief appearances in recent weeks, the Sooners' captain and two-time All-American is expected to be behind the plate again in Austin, head coach Patty Gasso revealed Tuesday.

NORMAN — Coming through in the clutch once again, Oklahoma’s All-American catcher is back in the lineup — just in time for Texas.

Kinzie Hansen, college softball’s reigning Johnny Bench Award winner, a two-time All-America and arguably the Sooners’ most clutch hitter, battled through a knee injury that has kept her out of action in recent weeks.

Coach Patty Gasso revealed the good news Tuesday during her weekly press briefing at Marita Hynes Field. The No. 1-ranked Sooners are happy to welcome Hansen back this weekend as OU (34-1) travels to arch rival Texas to take on the No. 5-ranked Longhorns (29-5).

"She's ready to go," Gasso said. "She's ready to go. So you'll see her back there (in Austin)."

"I'm feeling great," Hansen said. "I'll be ready for this weekend, that's for sure."

Hansen had started every contest of the 2024 season except for the Sooners’ battle against Seattle at the Mary Nutter Collegiate classic up until OU’s doubleheader on March 12 against Tarleton State. The senior captain was held out that night due to an illness, a precaution that Gasso said held her out of the dugout altogether. 

WATCH: Kinzie Hansen, Alyssa Brito interview

True to Gasso’s word, Hansen returned to start at catcher in Oklahoma’s series opener against Texas Tech, where she belted a home run in the second inning to put OU up 2-0 on the Red Raiders. 

As a precaution, Hansen was replaced behind the plate by Riley Ludlam. Gasso later said the Sooners were taking things “very cautiously” after Hansen felt “a little bit of a tweak in the knee.” 

Oklahoma leaned on Ludlam against UT Arlington and kept the Furman transfer in to catch against Baylor, though Hansen was called upon to pinch hit in the series finale against the Bears on March 23. 

WATCH: Patty Gasso interview

"I would like to say that I'm really proud of Riley Ludlum and I'm really really grateful for her," Hansen said, "because I am confident in her abilities, and I was confident in her abilities, and (that) allowed me to rest and be able to do my rehab and get everything situated. So I'm just really grateful for her."

Last weekend, Hansen was given two at-bats in each of the Sooners’ first two contests against Kansas before starting the series finale as Gasso’s designated player. Hansen also made her return behind the plate for the first time since OU played in Lubbock, catching the seventh inning on Saturday to close out the sweep over the Jayhawks. 

"I wanted to give her maybe one inning just to see what it looked like in a real game," Gasso said. "Instead of throwing her into Texas."

Hansen also battled a knee injury throughout the 2022 season. 

She made 41 starts and appeared in 52 total games, but finished 2022 with a .273 batting average, which is well below her career numbers. 

"When it did happen, I was a little bit scared," Hansen said. "It is my last year, so initially the fear was the first response. But I'm a lot more mature than I was back then. So it was a lot easier for me to just take it as it comes, you know, going day by day we're just stacking good days trying to be back 100 percent as quickly as I can, but also allowing it to heal so that I'm ready for this coming weekend in the in the future."

So far in 2024, Hansen is batting .377 with seven home runs, 17 RBIs and a .725 slugging percentage.