Tag: Jocelyn Alo

Tiare Jennings solidifying herself as one of the all-time greats

She might not get all of the love that the others before her got but there is no question Jennings is one of the all-time Sooner greats.

[autotag]Patty Gasso[/autotag] has coached some of the best players college softball has had to offer. Whether that’s [autotag]Lauren Chamberlain[/autotag], [autotag]Jocelyn Alo[/autotag], [autotag]Shelby Pendley[/autotag], [autotag]Keilani Ricketts[/autotag] or [autotag]Kristin Vesely[/autotag] the list goes on and on.

One player who isn’t mentioned as much as she should be alongside the best all-time is [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag]. Jennings has hit 88 career home runs, which is currently seventh in NCAA history and climbing. She’s just eight away from passing Chamberlain for second place, which would give Oklahoma the top three home run hitters in the history of the sport.

Jennings also ranks No. 7 in career runs batted in. She would need 37 more RBIs to break that record.

Patty Gasso discussed where Jennings ranks among the great players she’s coached. “You think of Alo and Chamberlain, big-time home runs. Just everyone has seen these big, long 300-foot home runs,” Gasso said. “Tiare you want her in clutch situations because she handles it so well. She’s a great two-strike hitter. She doesn’t strike out a lot. She doesn’t get nervous. She doesn’t try to overswing. She doesn’t try to show off. She’s just very team-oriented. ‘What can I do to help this team?'”

On the season, Jennings is hitting .446 with 15 home runs and 47 RBIs.

Sooner Nation has had the opportunity to witness greatness on the diamond at Marita Hynes Field for more than two decades. This year at Love’s Field, Jennings is putting together another strong season on the way to one of the best careers of all time.  When it’s all said and done, she’ll be among the best to play the game. Can she cap off her incredible career winning a fourth national championship in four years?

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Every Sooner to win NCAA softball tournament’s Most Outstanding Player

A look at every Oklahoma Sooners star to win Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA tournament.

No team has won more national titles since the turn of the century than the Oklahoma Sooners’ seven. After getting their first ring in 2000, it took Oklahoma 13 years to get their next one.

Since 2013, the Sooners have six national championships, more than any team has since 2000. UCLA has the most championships all time with 14, but it has only won four this millennium. Arizona is one title ahead of Oklahoma, but has just three titles this century and hasn’t won a championship since 2007.

In seven national title runs, Oklahoma had seven players win the NCAA Most Outstanding Player award. Here are the seven:

Oklahoma Softball greats, fans honor Marita Hynes Field in its final homestand

Former Sooners greats and fans share on social media about the final weekend of softball at Marita Hynes Field.

As the Oklahoma Sooners host their super regional matchup with the Clemson Tigers in an effort to defend their back-to-back national championships, they say goodbye to the place they’ve called home for the last 25 years.

With Oklahoma’s Love’s Field set to open in time for the 2024 home slate, the Sooners are playing their last series at Marita Hynes Field in Norman. It’s been the home to national champions and national players of the year. It’s been the place where Patty Gasso has established the legend that’s made her the face of college softball.

With the weekend to say goodbye to Marita Hynes Field, Oklahoma softball greats of the past and fans shared what they felt about one of the legendary sites of collegiate athletics.

Social media reacts to Oklahoma Sooners epic 7th inning comeback win over Oklahoma State

The Oklahoma Sooners rallied in the seventh inning to top Oklahoma State Cowgirls 4-2 and had social media buzzing in the process.

Down 2-0 in the seventh, just when you were counting them out, the Oklahoma Sooners did like they always seem to do; rallied in the seventh inning to beat a rival.

Just like they did on April 1 against the Texas Longhorns, the Oklahoma Sooners overcame a two-run deficit in the seventh to beat another rival. Against Texas, it was Jayda Coleman and Kinzie Hansen coming through in the clutch. On Saturday afternoon in Stillwater, it was Alynah Torres bringing the Sooners within one and Tiare Jennings providing the go-ahead runs on a double to left-center to make it 3-2.

Cydney Sanders provided the insurance run to make it 4-2, and Kierston Deal picked up where she left off in the sixth and worked a 1-2-3 seventh to seal the victory for the Oklahoma Sooners.

Oklahoma moves to 48-1 on the season and remains perfect in Big 12 play at 17-0. They extended their winning streak to 40 games, surpassing their 39-game winning streak from the 2022 season.

With the come-from-behind win, the Oklahoma Sooners clinch the Bedlam series against Oklahoma State. The late-inning effort had Twitter buzzing and here are some of the best reactions from social media.

3 Oklahoma Sooners top 10 finalists for USA Softball’s National Player of the Year

Jordy Bahl, Jayda Coleman, and Tiare Jennings were named finalists for USA Softball’s National Player of the Year award.

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.

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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‘There’s really no offensive weakness’: Patty Gasso talks 2023 season, attending OU Hockey game

During Oklahoma Softball’s visit to an OU Hockey game, Patty Gasso talked about her team, her career and her to-be ballpark

The crowd at Friday night’s OU Hockey game had a bit more star power than usual. Oklahoma Softball was in the building for the Sooners’ tilt against the Missouri State Ice Bears.

The back-to-back defending champions were invited onto the ice for the pregame ceremonial puck drop. Head coach Patty Gasso did the honors.

After the first period, Gasso gave an interview with the OU Hockey broadcast. She was candid when asked how her squad ended up at a hockey game that night.

“We need to get off the softball field and see what other athletes look like in action,” said Gasso. “I enjoy and (the players) enjoy seeing other athletic events and seeing athletes go through the same kind of intensity, pressure and push.”

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After winning back-to-back national championships, the Sooners are looking just as potent and dangerous as ever, but Gasso still has her sights set on the upcoming season.

“We focus on the process,” Gasso said. “We focus on the journey. We don’t talk about the word ‘three-peat.’ It’s just staying day to day and focusing on the moment… It’s a really good group that understands that, but they also want to make history.”

Superstar Jocelyn Alo has moved on from the Sooners, yet Oklahoma is looking as potent and dangerous as ever. While Alo will be missed, Gasso feels confident in the players she brought in during the offseason.

“There’s no one on earth that can swing it like Jocelyn Alo,” Gasso continued. “So, what we did instead was get three or four to replace Jocelyn Alo. You look at our lineup and there’s really no offensive weakness. One through nine can hit it out of the park and change the game at any time. It’s a very good team with very good pitching and very good defense.”

OU Softball will be moving into what will be known as Love’s Field for the 2024 season. The new ballpark’s construction is something of a crowning achievment for Gasso’s career.

“I think it (a new ballpark) has been the missing piece to this phenomenal puzzle for a long time… (The ballpark) is going to be absolutely beautiful and well-deserved for this team,” Gasso shared.

While Gasso has accomplished so much in her career, she considers this new ballpark the “icing on the cake” of her career.

“I’ve got nothing else to win or prove,” she continued. “I want to help some of these players reach their goals and dreams. It’s my passion and I love it.”

OU Softball will open their season at the Mark Campbell Invitational against No. 16 Duke on Thursday, Feb. 9.

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8 Sooners named to USA Softball Player of the Year watchlist

Eight Sooners named to USA Softball Player of the Year preseason watchlist

Jocelyn Alo has won the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award the last two seasons, and deservedly so. On Wednesday, USA Softball released their preseason watch list, a list featuring 50 players across the country.

Needless to say, head coach Patty Gasso’s bunch was very popular on the list. A total of eight Sooners made the cut, nearly one fifth of the 50 names mentioned. No other school has more than three names on the list.

While Alo’s departure is sure to be felt by Oklahoma at some point, it will be interesting to see just who ends up pulling away from the rest of the pack for this prestigous award. The Sooners have a talented lineup and a deep group of pitchers. They’re talented enough to win their third-consecutive national championship, which will put someone in line for yet another national player of the year honor.

Projected lineup for the Oklahoma Sooners as they prepare for national title defense

What could the Oklahoma Sooners lineup look like when they begin their 2023 NCAA title defense?

The Oklahoma Sooners will begin their quest for three-straight national championships in 16 days when they face off with the No. 19 Duke Blue Devils for the first of five games in the opener of the Mark Campbell Invitational in Irvine, California.

The Sooners lost key pieces to their 2022 squad, like [autotag]Jocelyn Alo[/autotag], [autotag]Hope Trautwein[/autotag], [autotag]Lynnsie Elam[/autotag], and [autotag]Taylon Snow[/autotag], but they looked locked and loaded for 2023. With transfer additions like [autotag]Alex Storako[/autotag], Cydney Sanders, [autotag]Alynah Torres[/autotag], and [autotag]Haley Lee[/autotag], the Sooners could be as good or better than they were a year ago.

They have a deep lineup that features seven players with a season of 14 home runs or more and four players with a 20-home run season in their careers. You can’t replace a Jocelyn Alo, but the Sooners lineup looks incredibly deep heading into 2023. Are there enough at-bats for the talented hitters that Patty Gasso has assembled?

10 Oklahoma Sooners named to D1 Softball’s top 100 for 2023

10 Sooners land inside D1 Softball’s top 100 players as Oklahoma prepares for their NCAA title defense.

One would think that losing the best player in the history of college softball would create a huge hole in the Oklahoma Sooners’ lineup. Yet, the two-time defending national champion Oklahoma Sooners are looking fully loaded and ready for the three-peat.

Jocelyn Alo will be missed, but OU has more than enough firepower to make up for her absence. Since departing after the 2022 season, Alo signed with the OKC Spark of the WPF and was named Sports Illustrated’s 2022 Athlete of the Year.

Oklahoma recently broke ground on Love’s Field, the future home of Sooners Softball. According to the Sooner Club website, the ballpark will be ready for the 2024 season, which could be the Sooners’ first in the SEC.

With so many stars on the roster, the new ballpark will be a fitting home for the back-to-back (to-back?) defending national champions. Here’s a look at the 10 Sooners in D1 Softball’s top 100 (subscription required).

Jocelyn Alo named Sports Illustrated 2022 Athlete of the Year

Oklahoma Softball’s very own Jocelyn Alo has been named Sports Illustrated’s Athlete of the Year. From @bendackiw

The Oklahoma Sooners legend Jocelyn Alo is going to need to make some room in her trophy case. The former OU slugger was named Sports Illustrated’s 2022 Athlete of the Year alongside Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees.

Some other big names accompanied Alo on the big stage. Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry won Sportsperson of the year, while Washington Commanders running back Brian Robinson won Inspiration of the Year.

The “Queen” of Oklahoma Softball not only won a national championship this year, but she also set a few records along the way. No college softball or baseball player has more career home runs than Alo’s 122. She gave a humble and heartfelt speech as she accepted the award.

When listing the greatest OU athletes of all time, it’s not a matter of if Alo is up there; it’s where to put her. Her career numbers look like someone was playing MLB The Show on beginner.

She had a career slugging percentage of .987, 323 RBIs, and a .557 on-base percentage. That is nothing short of complete dominance.

Since leaving OU, Alo signed with the OKC Spark of the Women’s Professional Fastpitch League for the 2023 season. Oklahoma fans will be able to see Alo again this coming June.

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