University of Texas Arlington Athletics

Coming out of high school in nearby Haltom City, Katy Cox was arguably the most highly touted talent to ever sign with the UT Arlington softball program, and the 2000 Gatorade Texas High School Player of the Year more than lived up to those lofty expectations in her three seasons with the Mavericks from 2001-03.
 
Despite only playing for the Mavs for three seasons, Cox still ranks as the program's all-time strikeout leader with an incredible 773 – 158 more than any other player in program history. She secured eight games of at least 12 strikeouts – the only UTA pitcher with more than three such contests. She was also a three-time All-Southland Conference selection, in addition to a garnering a number of other individual league honors.
 
A graduate of Haltom High, Cox made an immediate impact for UTA as a freshman in 2001. The right-handed pitcher was named Southland Conference Freshman of the Year and garnered a spot on the Southland First Team after leading the league in strikeouts with 236 in only 230 innings. Cox posted a 1.43 ERA and established the then-program record for strikeouts in a single game with 14 against McNeese State.
 
Her sophomore campaign in 2002 – by Cox's gaudy standards – was sub-par, but still was one of the best in single-season program history. She struck out 231 batters, which still ranks as the 5th most in a single season. She posted a 2.11 ERA with seven shutouts en route to being named to the Southland Third Team. Cox set what at the time was the most strikeouts in a single game in program history when she sat down 17 against Southeastern Louisiana on Mar. 3, 2002.
 
That 'down' year for Cox fueled her for a memorable 2003 season which will forever be held in program lore. Cox was named Southland Pitcher of the Year and to the league's First Team after leading the conference with a 1.31 ERA, accumulating an impressive 29-7 record – with the 29 victories still ranking as the 2nd most in single-season program history. Fourteen of those 29 wins came via shutout, which still stands as the most in a single year. Cox struck out a UTA-record 306 batters in 245.1 innings while allowing just 159 hits and limiting opponents to a minuscule .185 batting average. She also matched her own program record with 17 strikeouts versus Northwestern State on Mar. 22, 2003.
 
Cox recorded two no-hitters during the season nearly one month apart. The first on Mar. 29, 2003, against UTSA was the first no-no in program history. She followed the feat up with another one against Stephen F. Austin on Apr. 27, 2003. Cox is still to this day the only pitcher in Maverick history with more than one no-hitter, and is responsible for two of the five all-time no-hitters.
 
But it's what Cox did in the 2003 postseason which cemented herself in program lore. Cox is one of just five pitchers in the history of the Southland Conference to win four tournament games in a single year, leading UTA to the 2003 Southland Tournament Championship following a Southland Regular Season Championship. Cox was named Tournament MVP in addition to earning a spot on the All-Tournament Team.
 
In the NCAA Regionals in Gainesville, Cox posted back-to-back impressive shutouts over Florida State, 1-0, and host Florida, 2-0, before UTA eventually fell in its final two games. However, the victory over the Seminoles – which snapped their nation-best 27-game winning streak at the time – and, subsequently, the Gators represented the first and still only NCAA Tournament wins for UTA.