Tag: D1softball

9 Oklahoma Sooners included in D1Softball’s top 100 players from 2023

After a historic year, nine Oklahoma Sooners were featured in the top 50 of D1Softball’s top 100 players of the 2023 season.

The Oklahoma Sooners had a historic year. They had a record-breaking win streak that reached 53 games by the end of their national championship three-peat. The three national titles in a row mark only the second time it’s been done in the history of the sport under the NCAA.

You have to go back to the early days when UCLA won three in a row in the 1980s. At a time when the talent is at an all-time high and it’s spread throughout the nation, Patty Gasso’s Sooners beat the best of the best on their way to their third straight national championship and a 53-game win streak to close the season.

It was a total team effort, but there were several individuals that played significant roles along the way to help Oklahoma secure its seventh national title in school history.

Reflecting on the offseason, D1Softball ranked the top 100 players from the 2023 season, and nine Oklahoma Sooners were included in the top 50. Let’s take a look.

Tigers occupy No. 20 in final D1Softball poll

Auburn Softball’s most successful season under Mickey Dean ends with a top-20 ranking.

Auburn’s season came to an end against the Clemson Tigers in the final game of the Clemson Regional a few weeks ago.

The 2023 NCAA Softball season came to an end last week when the Oklahoma Sooners won the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma by sweeping Florida State.

D1Softball released its final poll of the season and Auburn checks in at No. 20.

The SEC had seven teams make the poll. Other than Auburn, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, LSU, and Texas A&M represented the conference.

Auburn’s roster will be undergoing a transition before the Tigers take the diamond for the first time in 2024.

Check out the full poll here.

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Jayda Coleman named D1Softball’s Defensive Player of the Year

After another tremendous season patrolling centerfield, Oklahoma’s Jayda Coleman was named D1Softball’s Defensive Player of the Year.

The Oklahoma Sooners have had arguably the two best defensive players in college softball for the last several years: [autotag]Grace Lyons[/autotag], the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, and [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag], the Big 12 Player of the Year.

In Oklahoma’s national championship run, it was Coleman who stole the show with her incredible athleticism and playmaking ability that made her the ace up the pitching staff’s sleeves. What she’s able to do patrolling center field for the Sooners has been a cheat code. A home run hit to center isn’t a home run unless it’s hit 20 feet beyond the wall. There’s no sneaking it over the fence in center because Jayda Coleman will not let you.

After another incredible season, Jayda Coleman earned D1Softball’s Defensive Player of the Year award for 2023.

Coleman finished the season with a perfect fielding percentage and three assists. She showed how much she can impact a contest in the championship series, and unfortunately for Florida State’s Kalei Harding. In Game 1, Coleman erased one of the FSU’s two hits by throwing a strike to second base to prevent a double from Harding. The next day, Coleman kept Game 2 scoreless by robbing a would-be three-run homer off the bat of Harding. – D1Softball

There’s a case to be made that Coleman is the best player in softball. Though several players have strong arguments, Coleman’s ability to regularly take runs off the board is an X-factor that few teams can match. Her range and ability to go up over the center field wall reminds of the former Seattle Mariners legend Ken Griffey Jr. Griffey made a habit of robbing home run balls and in turn, snatching momentum.

Coleman does the same.

In both games of the WCWS championship series against Florida State, Coleman made momentum-stealing plays to keep the Seminoles’ offense at bay.

She’s simply the best there is, and we get to witness her greatness again in 2024.

 

Jordy Bahl named D1Softball’s Pitcher of the Year

After a fantastic season Jordy Bahl was named D1Softball’s Pitcher of the Year for 2023.

After a slow start to the 2023 season, [autotag]Jordy Bahl[/autotag] finished with a bang. She closed the season and her Oklahoma Sooners career by pitching 24.2 scoreless innings at this year’s Women’s College World Series. She finished the year with a 0.90 ERA, which helped her earn the Pitcher of the Year honor from D1Softball.

She was named Most Outstanding Player at the WCWS, and her 0.90 ERA for the season was second in the country behind Stanford’s NiJaree Canady.

Bahl performed her best when the competition was at its best. She had wins against Florida State, Tennessee, Stanford, Oklahoma State, Washington, Utah, Duke, Texas and Clemson. She was the ace of a very good pitching staff.

Bahl stunned the softball world by announcing this week she is transferring from Oklahoma back to her home state of Nebraska. Though Oklahoma returns Nicole May and Kierston Deal, and we haven’t seen anything from another signee from their 2022 recruiting class, S.J. Guerin, Oklahoma is going to miss Bahl a lot.

In her two years in Norman, Bahl was 44-2 and recorded 397 strikeouts for the Sooners. In more than 288.2 innings pitched, Bahl allowed 153 hits and 47 runs scored.

Though Bahl’s time in Norman has come to an end, her impact in Norman and on the sport of softball will continue. When the games mattered most, Bahl rose to the occasion and led the Oklahoma Sooners to their third straight national title.

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LSU softball’s Sydney Berzon named Freshman All-American

Berzon was one of the top pitchers in the nation during her first campaign with the Tigers.

Despite a frustrating end to the 2023 campaign, which saw LSU exit the Baton Rouge Regional in the final game against Louisiana, the future is bright for coach Beth Torina’s Tigers softball program.

True freshman pitcher [autotag]Sydney Berzon[/autotag] is a major reason for that. After a standout first season in Baton Rouge, she was D1Softball’s lone All-American selection from LSU, earning freshman honors.

A consensus top-20 recruit from Buffalo, New York, who played high school ball at Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Berzon appeared in 30 games in 2023, registering a 14-8 record and an impressive 1.91 earned run average.

She made 17 starts and pitched 11 complete games, and she struck out 127 batters while walking just 40 on the year.

Berzon will likely be one of the most anticipated players in the entire country next season, and Torina will hope she’s able to help the team snap its two-season super regional drought in 2024.

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Auburn softball’s place in the RPI ahead of South Carolina series

Auburn is in a good position to continue its hot streak this weekend at South Carolina.

The No. 17 Auburn Tigers are getting hot at the right time, and they look to continue their streak of good fortune this weekend at South Carolina.

Winners of two straight series against top 25 teams within the SEC, Auburn travels to Columbia this weekend in hopes of winning its’ third-straight series against a challenging foe. South Carolina enters the weekend with a 7-11 record in conference play, but they have shown signs of great play this season by winning series’ over No. 14 Florida and No. 25 Texas A&M.

In a series that has the makings to be unpredictable, it is important for the Tigers to continue backing up pitchers [autotag]Maddie Penta[/autotag] and [autotag]Shelby Lowe[/autotag] by playing great defense and recording timely hits.

Although history and numbers are not the most reliable indicator of how a series will shake out, it usually provides some clarity as to how each team has performed in several situations during a season. Ahead of this weekend’s series between Auburn and South Carolina, here is a look at the Tigers’ place in the RPI, provided by D1Softball.

Maddie Penta makes impressive climb in D1Softball’s pitcher power rankings

Auburn’s ace continues to perform at a high level this season.

It is rare for a pitcher to lead her team to victory at Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa. To do it twice? It is virtually impossible.

Auburn right-hander [autotag]Maddie Penta[/autotag] was given that task last weekend, and she succeeded as she played a huge role in No. 17 Auburn‘s series win at No. 16 Alabama last weekend.

Because of this, her stock has risen in D1Softball’s pitcher power rankings. She begins the week at the No. 3 slot in the power rankings, which is a seven-spot increase from last week’s rankings.

After the Tigers dropped game one of the series to Alabama on Saturday, Penta was called upon to shut the Crimson Tide down in game two of the doubleheader. She did just that by allowing just three hits and one earned run while striking out seven batters in Auburn’s 5-1 win.

Penta got the call again on Sunday in the series finale and won a duel with Alabama ace Montana Fouts by striking out eight Crimson Tide batters while allowing six hits and an earned run in the Tigers’ 3-1 win over Alabama.

Following the Alabama series, Penta holds a 21-5 record with an ERA of 1.68. She currently has 205 strikeouts to her name, which is 27 strikeouts shy of her career-high total, which she obtained during the 2021 season.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__

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Jayda Coleman earns D1Softball’s Player of the Week award

After a strong weekend in Norman, Jayda Coleman earns player of the week honors from D1Softball.

Oklahoma’s Jayda Coleman has been one of the Sooners’ most important players for several years now.

She’s been one of the emotional leaders of the squad, a spark plug that can get the Sooners going on a scoring barrage. Coleman’s been an on-base machine and defensive wizard in her career in Norman, but in 2023, she’s showing off another element to her game. Her power.

Over the weekend, in the Sooners’ first home slate of the season, Jayda Coleman hit three home runs and had two doubles, hitting .636 in the process. For her efforts in Oklahoma’s home sweep against No. 17 Kentucky and UIC, Jayda Coleman was named D1Softball’s player of the week.

Oklahoma Softball’s “Supergirl” is tied for the team lead in home runs and doubles. She’s second on the team in batting average and slugging, while leading Oklahoma in on-base percentage.

Coleman’s five home runs and 10 extra-base hits are on pace to shatter her previous career highs from 2021. That season she hit nine home runs and 11 doubles. At her current pace, she’ll finish the regular season with 14 home runs and 14 doubles to give her 28 extra-base hits on the season. And she’ll still have the Big 12 tournament, NCAA Tournament, and Women’s College World Series to add to those totals.

She’s been a great player and one of the best in the nation for several years now, but Jayda Coleman’s taking her game to another level in 2023.

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D1Softball lists Bri Ellis as SEC’s top first baseman

There’s no doubt that Bri Ellis will end the season as one of the SEC’s top players.

The SEC is expected to be one of the nation’s toughest conferences in softball this season, and it is easy to see why.

The conference is projected to send 12 of its’ 13 members to the postseason in 2023, and many of its athletes are being recognized with preseason accolades. One of those talented players is Auburn’s first baseman, [autotag]Bri Ellis[/autotag].

Ellis had a special freshman season by hitting 20 home runs and slugging.772 in 2022 and has earned another preseason mention, this time from D1Softball. D1Softball recently released its first baseman power rankings for the 2023 season and has listed Ellis as the No. 5 first baseman in the country, which places her with the top honor among SEC first basemen.

Ellis’ success at the plate put her on the map last season, but her fielding efforts were outstanding as well. She recorded 251 putouts last season and was a part of nine double plays while fielding at a .989 clip.

The honor from D1Softball is one of many preseason nods that Ellis has received this preseason. She has also been named a top-100 player by both Extra Innings Softball and Softball America and was named to FloSoftball’s top 10 sluggers list.

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Auburn Softball projected to finish 8th in SEC

D1Softball predicts Auburn to make another run to the NCAA Tournament in 2023.

The 2022 Auburn Tigers returned to a familiar level of play last season by winning 40 games and making a run toward an NCAA Tournament berth.

The excitement continues to build for [autotag]Mickey Dean[/autotag]’s squad as many of last season’s pieces return in 2023. D1Softball believes that Auburn will build on last season’s success, and make another trip to the postseason.

In what is expected to be a challenging conference slate, D1Softball.com has Auburn projected to finish the season as the No. 8 team in the SEC.

While Auburn is projected to finish in the bottom half of the SEC, the strength of the conference needs to be considered. Despite a No. 8 prediction, Auburn enters the D1Softball preseason poll at No. 19, with seven SEC teams ranked above them.

D1Softball.com’s Projected SEC Standings

  1. Florida
  2. Arkansas
  3. Alabama
  4. Georgia
  5. Tennessee
  6. LSU
  7. Kentucky
  8. Auburn
  9. Ole Miss
  10. Missouri
  11. Mississippi State
  12. Texas A&M
  13. South Carolina

[autotag]Maddie Penta[/autotag] and [autotag]Shelby Lowe[/autotag] return to anchor the pitching staff, while [autotag]Bri Ellis[/autotag], [autotag]Nelia Peralta[/autotag], [autotag]Aspyn Godwin[/autotag], and a plethora of others return to provide offensive power.

The Tigers open the season on Friday, Feb. 10 in Clearwater, Fla. as part of the NFCA Leadoff Classic. Auburn will face St. John’s and Fordham on opening day.

RELATED: Bri Ellis listed among FloSoftball’s top 10 sluggers in College Softball

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