Texas State associate head coach Cat Osterman is leaving the Bobcats to pursue future personal endeavors, head coach Ricci Woodard announced Monday.
Osterman was a part of the maroon and gold’s staff for the past six seasons, including the last three as an associate head coach. Texas State reached the NCAA tournament three times during the pitching coach’s time with the team (2016-18) and earned the Sun Belt regular season and tournament championships in 2018.
“We wish Cat the best in her future endeavors as well as the Olympics,” Woodard said in a statement. “She's been a great addition to our Bobcat Family, and we are going to miss her tremendously.
“When Cat came in, our mission was to get to the top of the Sun Belt Conference, If you want to be a winner, then you have to surround yourself with winners and there's nobody better at that — in my mind — than Cat Osterman.”
Osterman is a current member of Team USA. She was scheduled to play in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics before the event was postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Osterman announced prior to the 2020 season she would take a leave of absence from the Bobcats to work toward what could be her third Olympic medal. Volunteer assistant coach Paige McDuffee served Texas State’s interim pitching coach.
“My time at Texas State was unbelievable and working with Coach Woodard has been an absolute privilege; I don't know if any boss from here on out can measure up to her,” Osterman said in the statement. “I got to witness the creation of a Sun Belt championship and work with All-American Randi Rupp, which are two highlights I'll take away from my time there.
“But, more than anything during my six years at Texas State, I felt like I became part of a family. It was great and really hard to step away from that. I look back with nothing but good memories. Texas State has been everything I thought it would have been when I took the job and so much more.”
