Former OU softball star Kinzie Hansen-McKinzie will miss OKC Spark season with pregnancy
· Yahoo Sports
Kinzie Hansen-McKinzie will not be playing for the Oklahoma City Spark this season.
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The former OU standout, however, will remain with the team.
Hansen-McKinzie recently announced via social media that she is pregnant and that she and husband and former OU linebacker, Kobie McKinzie, are expecting their first child. Because of that, she has been placed on the Spark’s inactive list.
That’s where she is expected to remain for the 2026 season.
“She will not be playing this season,” Spark founder Tina Floyd told The Oklahoman on Monday, the eve of the team’s AUSL debut.
“But she will be around,” Spark general manager Kirk Walker added.
He also confirmed that Hansen-McKinzie remains under contract with the Spark and that he had no intention to trade the slugging catcher.
Haley Lee, another former Sooner, was already on the Spark roster, but the team decided to add Grace Jenkins over the weekend. The former Arizona catcher was taken out of the AUSL’s reserve pool.
Still, Hansen-McKinzie was expected to be a pillar of the Spark as it moves into AUSL. Playing the past two seasons with the Spark, she was not protected by the franchise entering last winter’s AUSL Allocation Draft but was immediately taken back as the team made her the No. 2 overall pick.
She hit .407 last season with the Spark, bashing five homers and driving in 23 runs.
Hansen-McKinzie was a four-time national champion, a three-time all-tournament team honoree at the Women’s College World Series and three-time All-American at OU. She also received the Johnny Bench Award as college softball’s top catcher in 2023.
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU softball standout Kinzie Hansen-McKinzie to miss OKC Spark season