OU softball: Kinzie Hansen wins Johnny Bench Award as college softball's top catcher

NORMAN — OU catcher Kinzie Hansen was named the Johnny Bench Award winner as college softball's top catcher, it was announced Tuesday afternoon.

The 10 award winners — Hansen and college baseball winner Kyle Teel of Virginia plus eight high school winners in four states around the Cincinnati area — will be honored July 18 at the Johnny Bench Awards Luncheon at Cincinnati's Great American Ball Park and recognized before that night's game between the Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants.

After missing time early in the season due to illness, Hansen started 42 games behind the plate for the Sooners, proving to be a force both offensively and defensively.

The Norco, California, product hit .409 with 57 RBIs, 13 home runs, seven doubles, and a triple. She delivered perhaps the most notable hit of the Sooners' season, blasting a game-tying three-run home run in the seventh inning of game two of the Super Regionals against Clemson to help lift OU back into the Women's College World Series.

In the WCWS, she hit .357 with a double, home runs and four RBIs to help the Sooners win their third consecutive national title.

Behind the plate, she had just two errors, finishing with a .993 fielding percentage.

The Johnny Bench Award was expanded to honor softball players in 2019 after two decades of honoring college baseball's top catcher.

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