University of Texas pitcher Cat Osterman has been named the 2006 Honda Award winner as the nation’s top collegiate softball athlete Monday evening. 

The award is determined from results of national balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools as part of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards program, now in its 30th year. 

The honor moves Osterman, who received her second straight award, into automatic consideration for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year. 

In her final season in the circle for the Longhorns, the Houston, Texas, native led UT to a third Women’s College World Series berth. She finished 2006 with a 38-4 record that included an NCAA-leading 0.37 ERA and 15.4 strikeouts-per-seven-innings. She threw 28 shutouts, including five no-hitters. 

Osterman set the NCAA career strikeout record (2,265) and the record for strikeouts-per-seven innings (14.4). She finished her career ranked No. 2 all-time in with 85 career shutouts. 

While leading the NCAA this year with an ERA of 0.37 and strikeouts-per-seven-innings (15.4), the four-time Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-American finished 38-4 with 28 shutouts and five no-hitters and led 55-9 Texas to a Women's College World Series berth (softball's final eight) for the third time in her Longhorn career.