Kinzie Hansen (born October 12, 2001) is an American professional

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

player for the Oklahoma City Spark of the Association of Fastpitch Professionals (AFP) and is a member of the

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 S ...

. She played

college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is normally played by women at the Intercollegiate level, whereas college baseball is nor ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

where she won 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 and is held annually in Oklahoma City, OK. The event is held at Devon Park (stadium), Devon Park loca ...

championship four consecutive years.

Early life

Hansen was born to Jason and Nicole Hansen. She played travel ball for the OC Batbusters, and finished the 2018 summer with a .460 batting average, 37 hits, 23 RBIs, 21 runs, 11 home runs and a .990 fielding percentage, and helped lead her team to a national runner-up finish.

High school career

Hansen attended Norco High School in

Norco, California Norco is a city in northwestern Riverside County, California, United States. Located roughly inland from the Pacific Ocean, Norco is known as "Horsetown, USA" and prides itself on being a "horse community". The area is dotted with corrals, far ...

. During her freshman year in 2016, she hit .426 with seven home runs, a team-best 37 RBI, 18 walks and a .525 on-base percentage. Following the season, she was named to the Big VIII League first team, and was the only underclassman to be named to the Riverside Press-Enterprise All-Inland first team. She was also named CalHiSports State Freshman of the Year. During her sophomore year in 2017, she had the team’s second-best batting average at .470, and led the team with 43 RBI. Following the season, she was named CalHiSports State Sophomore of the Year. As a junior in 2018, she posted a .596 batting average, 31 hits, 29 RBIs, 11 runs scored, four home runs and a .992 fielding percentage and helped lead her team to the CIF Championship. Following the season she was named CalHiSports State Junior of the Year and HSGameTime Softball Player of the Year. She was also named a first-team All-American, the CIF MVP, the league MVP and the Press Enterprise Softball Player of the Year.

College career

Hansen made her collegiate debut for

on February 6, 2020, in a game against Nevada, where she went 2-for-5 with four RBIs. She finished her freshman year in a season that was shortened due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

with 24 starts, including 22 at first base, and led the Sooners with 26 RBI, ranked second on the team with 31 hits and 11 walks and fourth on the team in batting average at .413. She also had a perfect fielding percentage and 152 putouts at first base. During her sophomore year in

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, she started 58 games, and batted .438 with 24 home runs, nine doubles and 66 RBIs. Her 24 home runs ranked fifth in the country. Defensively, she recorded 279 putouts and 21 assists with just three errors for .990 fielding percentage. On February 11, 2021, she went 5-for-5 in a game against UTEP, with two home runs, and three RBI. Her five hits tied the single-game program record for hits. During the 2021 Big 12 Conference softball tournament, she recorded five home runs in three games, with eight RBI and a 2.100 slugging percentage. She was subsequently named to the all-tournament team and the Most Outstanding Player of the Big 12 Tournament. During the 2021 Women's College World Series she batted .357 with three home runs, one double and eight RBI, to help lead her team to the

championship. She was also named to the All-tournament Team. During her junior year in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, she started 41 games, after missing part of the season due to injury. She finished the season with a .273 batting average, 33 hits, 29 RBI and eight home runs. During the 2022 Women's College World Series title-clinching championship game, she went 2-for-3 with a three-run home run to help Oklahoma win their second consecutive national championship. During her senior year in

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, she appeared in 49 games, with 44 starts at catcher or designated player after missing the first two weeks of the season due to injury. She finished the season with a .409 batting average, seven doubles, one triple, 13 home runs and 57 RBI. Her average of 1.16 RBIs per game ranked seventh in the country. Defensively she had a .993 fielding percentage with 268 putouts and nine assists to just two errors and was named the Johnny Bench Award winner. During game two of the Norman Super Regional at the 2023 NCAA Division I softball tournament, she hit a game-tying three-run home run in the seventh inning against Clemson to help Oklahoma advance to the

. During the 2023 Women's College World Series she hit .357 with a double, home run and four RBIs, to help Oklahoma win their third consecutive national championship. She was subsequently named to the All-tournament Team. During her graduate student year in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, she appeared in 58 games, with 55 starts at catcher or designated player. She finished the season with a .400 batting average, nine doubles, 11 home runs and 41 RBI. Defensively she had a .990 fielding percentage with 282 putouts and 24 assists to just three errors and was named a unanimous All-Big 12 first team selection and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. During the

2024 Women's College World Series The 2024 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 17 through June 6, 2024, as the final part of the 2024 NCAA Division I softball season. The tournament ended with the 2024 Women's College World Series at Devon Park in Oklahoma City ...

she had three hits with a double, home run, two RBIs, and three runs scored to help Oklahoma win their fourth consecutive national championship. She was subsequently named to the All-tournament Team.

Professional career

On June 17, 2024, Hansen signed with the Oklahoma City Spark of the AFP.

National team career

On January 7, 2022, she was named a member of the

for the

2022 World Games The 2022 World Games, commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event held from July 7 to 17, 2022, in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. They were the 11th World Games, a multi-sport event featuring disciplines ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, Kinzie Living people 2001 births Oklahoma Sooners softball players Sportspeople from Norco, California Softball players from California World Games gold medalists for the United States World Games medalists in softball Norco High School alumni Medalists at the 2022 World Games 21st-century American sportswomen