Kaitlin Elizabeth Cochran (born February 28, 1987) is an American, former collegiate four-time first team All-American, retired

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

player. She attended Rosary High School and

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

from 2006 to 2009, where she won the

2008 Women's College World Series The 2008 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 15 through June 4, 2008. 64 NCAA Division I college softball teams met after having played their way through a regular season, and for some, a conference tournament, to play in the N ...

title. Also with

United States women's national softball team The United States women's national softball team is the national softball team of the United States. It is governed by USA Softball (formerly known as the Amateur Sof ...

, she won four

World Cup of Softball The USA Softball International Cup previously known as the World Cup of Softball, is an annual softball tournament. The first eight World Cups were held at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The competition is governed by USA ...

crowns. She holds various records for the Sun Devils in the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

. She was drafted first overall in the

National Pro Fastpitch National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), formerly the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL), was a professional women's softball league in the United States. The teams battled for the Cowles Cup. The WPSL was founded in 1997 and folded in 2001; the NPF revive ...

but elected not to play. She is also one of nine

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

players to bat .400 with 200

RBIs A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

, 50

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

and an .800

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

for a career.

Arizona State

2006

Cochran began her career by being named Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year, as well as earning First Team selections from both the conference and the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. Cochran debuted on February 9 in a run-rule victory vs. the

Utah State Aggies The Utah State Aggies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Utah State University, located in Logan. The school fields 16 sports teams – seven men and nine women – and compete in the Mountain West Conference. Sports spon ...

, where she went 1/4 with an RBI. She broke school season records in

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

, home runs and RBIs, all except the RBIs led the Pac-10. On February 10, Cochran drove in 7 runs against the

Syracuse Orange The Syracuse Orange are the athletic teams that represent Syracuse University. The school is a member of NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Coast Conference. Until 2013, Syracuse was a member of the Big East Conference. The school's mascot is ...

for a single game career high.

2007

Cochran repeated all-season honors, including a Pac-10 Player of the Year award She was also a finalist for USA National Collegiate Player of The Year. Cochran broke her own season records for batting average, hits (both career bests) and home runs, as well as setting the slugging percentage record. She simultaneously led the conference in hits, doubles,

base on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

, slugging and average, the latter of which also was tops for the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

year. Cochran still owns the season records for average, hits and slugging for the Sun Devils.

2008

The Sun Devil again achieved all-season honors from the conference and the NFCA. She set new records for doubles, runs and walks, including intentional walks. Of those records, she led the conference in all and except the doubles, she also led the

; the intentional walks was an all-time season record for the

and her runs ranks top-10. Her season batting average (best in the conference), home runs, RBIs and hits rank top-10 in school history. Cochran and the Sun Devils made their third consecutive trip to the

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States. Eight teams participate in the WCWS, which begins with a double-elimination tournament. In other wo ...

and were a perfect 5-0 en route to the title. In their first two games, Cochran was walked all 6 plate appearances and went a combined (3/8) with 8 walks to hit a total of .375 at the series. In the championship finale vs. the

Texas A&M Aggies Texas A&M Aggies refers to the students, graduates, and sports teams of Texas A&M University. The nickname "Aggie" was once common at land-grant or "ag" (agriculture) schools in many states. The teams are also referred to as "A&M" or "Texas Aggi ...

on June 3, her only hit was a three-run home run.

2009

For her final season, Cochran maintained her awards pace with her last First Team selections and third "Player of The Year" honors; she became the third player in the conference to achieve the honor for three seasons. Once again, she was a finalist for USA National Collegiate Player of The Year as she had been in 2007. She set her last set of records by breaking her own season home runs and

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

with career highs. The percentage led both the

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

(where she also led in walks) and the

. Cochran also set several single game records, starting by claiming her 50th career home run vs. Magon Paul of the

UCF Golden Knights The UCF Knights are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. The Knights participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Division I F ...

on February 6. A week later on February 13 against the

Chattanooga Mocs The Chattanooga Mocs (formerly the Chattanooga Moccasins) are the 16 teams representing the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in intercollegiate athletics. The Mocs compete in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and a ...

, she set a career best with 5 walks. On March 20, Cochran batted in her 200th career RBI in a win over the

Long Beach State 49ers Long Beach State athletics, or simply Beach athletics (previously known as the 49ers), are the athletic teams that represent California State University, Long Beach. Teams compete in 19 sports at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NC ...

. It was also during this time that Cochran went on her career best 13 consecutive game hitting streak, beginning on March 15 and ending in a rain postponed game vs. the

Arizona Wildcats The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...

on April 11. Cochran hit .444 (16/36) with 20 RBIs, 8 HRs (including a top

streak of 7 consecutive home run games), 3 doubles 15 walks and slugging 1.194%. Although the Sun Devils made a return trip to the World Series as defending champs, they eventually lost to end Cochran's career on May 30, with Cochran getting shutout at the plate. She holds the Sun Devil crown in career batting average, home runs, hits, runs, walks,

total bases In baseball statistics, total bases is the number of bases a player gains with hits. It is a weighted sum with values of 1 for a single, 2 for a double, 3 for a triple and 4 for a home run. For example, three singles is three total bases, while ...

and slugging percentage. She ranks top-5 in RBIs, doubles, triples and stolen bases. She is top-10 in the now named

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

conference for average, home runs, runs, walks and slugging. Finally, in the

, she is top-10 in walks and runs (6th), total bases (7th) and slugging (9th) for her career.

Post-Arizona State

As a collegiate senior, Cochran was drafted No. 1 by the

Akron Racers The Akron Racers were a women's softball team based in Akron, Ohio. They have moved to Cleveland and been renamed the Cleveland Comets in 2018. The team was started by Joey Arietta in 1999 to participate in the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL). ...

but elected not play. In the four years after graduating, Cochran played for

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

and won four consecutive World Cups, along with the 2010 ISF World Championship and the 2011 Pan-American Championship. Although with incomplete numbers, Cochran hit over .300 for her

career. Cochran eventually married her husband Matthew Johnson.

Statistics

References

Links

NCAA Division I softball career .400 batting average list There are currently 134 batters and 51 records in the .400 Batting Average Club: * Note every player on the list played four seasons (except those currently with one year eligibility remaining) of at least 30 at-bats. Progression Jill Justin e ...

* NCAA Division I softball career 200 RBIs list *

NCAA Division I softball career 50 home runs list Jocelyn Alo holds the NCAA Division I softball home run record with 122. She passed Lauren Chamberlain, who hit 95, on March 11, 2022. List of home run leaders Records & Milestones Laura Espinoza hit an NCAA all-time season and senior class r ...

External links

*
USA Softball
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cochran, Kaitlin 1987 births Arizona State Sun Devils softball players Living people Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in softball Softball players at the 2011 Pan American Games Softball players from California Sportspeople from Orange County, California Sportspeople from Riverside, California Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games