OU softball captain Kinzie Hansen is 'day to day' with knee injury as Sooners await Baylor

NORMAN — OU softball captain Kinzie Hansen has a knee issue which has limited her recently and could continue to be an issue.

“She’s got a little bit of a tweak in the knee that we don’t want to mess around with right now,” Sooners coach Patty Gasso said Tuesday. “We’re just kind of playing it very cautiously. Riley Ludlam’s done a great job in that spot. So it’s just kind of day to day. She’s not out for the season or anything like that, we’re just kind of taking it day to day.”

Hansen had just one at-bat in five games last week, blasting a home run in Friday’s series opener against Texas Tech but shortly after, Hansen left the game and did not appear again in the series.

Hansen is hitting .367 with seven home runs and 16 RBIs. Hansen has thrown out three of five runners attempting to steal on her.

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Ludlam has been solid taking over for Hansen at catcher, hitting .385 with two home runs and 16 RBIs in 26 games — 12 starts. 

With Hansen banged up, the Sooners had to recently hold a tryout for another catcher, should the need arise.

Gasso said Alynah Torres would be OU’s emergency catcher should Ludlam be unavailable before Hansen’s return.

The Sooners (27-1, 6-0 Big 12) host UT-Arlington at 6 p.m. Wednesday before jumping back into Big 12 play this weekend against Baylor with a 6 p.m. Friday game at Oklahoma City’s USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium, then Saturday (2 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.) games at Love’s Field.

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