Three Sooners were named as finalists for the USA Softball Player of the Year Award. [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag], [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag], and [autotag]Jordy Bahl[/autotag] lead the way for the Oklahoma Sooners, who had the highest number of players make the cut for the prestigious award.
UCLA and Tennessee are the only other schools with multiple athletes represented with two athletes apiece.
Oklahoma’s softball dominance has been on display in the USA Softball National Player of the Year discussion. They’ve had at least two finalists for five straight years and three finalists each of the last two years.
A Sooner has won the award in four of the last 10 seasons, with [autotag]Jocelyn Alo[/autotag] winning back-to-back Player of the Year honors in 2021 and 2022.
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐨 🌟🌟🌟
Bahl, Coleman, Jennings named Top-10 Finalists for @USASoftball Collegiate Player of the Year.
» https://t.co/jyfp0FL3VC | #ChampionshipMindset pic.twitter.com/im4FKyCtrH
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) May 3, 2023
It’s Bahl’s second time on the short list for Player of the Year honors. She’s been the headliner for Oklahoma’s pitching staff over the last two years, which leads the nation in team ERA. Bahl has a team-best six shutouts and has a combined nine shutouts on the year too. She also has one perfect game on the year and combined on two no-hitters. Only a sophomore, Bahl is on an incredible run to start her Oklahoma career.
It’s Coleman’s first time being up for the award as a junior. She has a team-high 13 home runs and leads the Sooners with a .454 batting average. She’s slugging .862 and has a .575 on-base percentage. Coleman’s top 10 in the nation in batting average, slugging, and on-base percentages.
This is Jennings’ second time to be named a finalist. She has 12 home runs and 10 doubles on the year. She also has a team-high 49 runs batted in. She’s batting .435 and holds a slugging percentage of .786 and an on-base percentage of .506.
The top three finalists will be revealed on May 17 and the winner will be announced before the Women’s College World Series starts on June 1st.
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