Tag: Tiare Jennings

‘This was my dream school’: Kelly Maxwell on growing up an Oklahoma Sooners fan

While most of her career was spent at an in-state rival Oklahoma State, Kelly Maxwell admits Oklahoma was always her dream.

Not everyone’s path to the University of Oklahoma is the same. Some people come there right out of college, but others make it through the transfer portal.

The latter is how [autotag]Kelly Maxwell[/autotag] found herself playing for the Sooners.

Maxwell spent five seasons with the Sooners in-state rival, the Oklahoma State Cowgirls. She received several accolades while playing for the Cowgirls, including selection to the USA Softball Women’s National Team in 2022 and 2023, 2023 NFCA Second Team All-American, 2023 All-Big 12 First Team, 2022 NFCA Unanimous First Team All-American, 2022 Big 12 Co-Pitcher of the Year and 2022 All-Big 12 First Team among many others.

Maxwell did an interview with KREF in Norman, in which she said while she spent five years at Oklahoma State, Oklahoma was always her dream school.

“Actually, from a young age, I was an OU fan,” Maxwell said. “My dad’s family actually all went to school here, and this was my dream school. I had always admired watching OU football and Adrian Peterson. So whenever 27 was taken (on her travel ball team) my coach at the time, he was an OU fan, he was like, ‘Hey why don’t you wear 28, it’s Adrian Peterson’s number and it’s just one above 27?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, sure!’ So, then it kind of stuck and I’ve been 28 ever since.”

That is just another example of how everyone’s path is different in how they come to Oklahoma. Maxwell was once a feared pitcher for the rival school but now is helping her “dream school” win another national championship.

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Sooners Tiare Jennings on a tear in Big 12 play

Tiare Jennings is putting together another incredible season for the Oklahoma Sooners ahead of their trip to face the Texas Longhorns.

The Oklahoma Sooners offense has erupted during conference play. In their 12-0 run, Oklahoma has outscored their opponents 126 to 18. They’re three games up on Oklahoma State and Texas in the conference standings and riding a nation-leading 16-game winning streak since their loss to Louisiana.

One of the catalysts for Oklahoma’s offensive surge has been National Player of the Year candidate [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag].

In 12 games during Big 12 play, Jennings is hitting .487 with nine home runs and 25 RBIs. It has put Jennings on pace to flirt with the all-time RBI record in collegiate softball and to have another season with more than 20 home runs, better than a .400 batting average, and she’ll close in on 70 RBIs just in the regular season.

Over the weekend, in the Sooners three-game sweep of the Kansas Jayhawks, Jennings had a home run in all three games and racked up six RBIs. On the season, she’s now hitting .446 with 15 home runs and 45 RBIs. Her slugging percentage is up to 1.000 and she’s getting on base at a .520 clip.

Oklahoma has 17 games in the regular season remaining. If all goes according to plan, they’ll play at least 12 games in the postseason. At her current pace of 1.34 RBIs per game, Jennings would finish the season with 83 RBIs, which would put her into a tie for first place all-time in RBIs in a career.

It’s another incredible season in what has been one of the best careers in the history of the sport. As the Sooners get set to take on the Texas Longhorns in Austin, Jennings is turning it up at just the right time. Here’s hoping she can keep the power surge going in the Red River Rivalry.

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Oklahoma Sooners game vs. Wichita State rescheduled for later in the season

The Sooners will no longer travel to Wichita State for a midweek game this week.

The Oklahoma Sooners will have nearly a week to prepare for their next game. That’s because their midweek contest with the [autotag]Wichita State Shockers[/autotag] slated for Tuesday has been rescheduled.

It is unclear why the game is being rescheduled, but in a release, Oklahoma moved to April 9, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. CT.

That contest will now be sandwiched in between a road series at the Texas Longhorns and a home series vs. the [autotag]BYU Cougars[/autotag]. That also means Oklahoma will now have four days off before they take on the Kansas Jayhawks in a three-game series starting on Thursday.

The first pitch on Thursday is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT, followed by a 5 p.m. CT start on Friday and a noon CT Saturday finale. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and 1560 AM/103.3 FM The Franchise 2 if you aren’t able to watch on TV.

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Oklahoma Sooners are taking it ‘one game, one week’ at a time

All they needed was a wake up call as the Oklahoma Sooners are back to showing their dominance.

The Oklahoma Sooners’ loss to Louisiana might have been the wake-up call they needed as a team.

That appears to be the case, as the Sooners have been flat-out dominant since suffering their first loss of the season. They are outscoring teams 137-16 during that span. That’s an average of 10.5 to 1.2. Just complete and utter dominance for the Sooners.

Jayda Coleman spoke about if they are on the path they need to be to hopefully win another national championship.

“I think where we’re going right now is really exciting,” Coleman said. “I think the main focus for us is to take it one game at a time. We have Wichita State. We have Kansas. Just thinking just one week at a time. If we start thinking about the postseason, that kind of thing, it’ll mess us up, so just one game at a time, one week at a time.”

The Sooners have done that so far this season. Now, they will spend a week in the state of Kansas.

They start things off on Tuesday with a midweek game against Wichita State before heading to play the Jayhawks on Thursday in a three-game week/weekend series. The Jayhawks are playing some really good softball. They are 7-2 in Big 12 play, with sweeps of Baylor and Houston to their ledger.

One thing Oklahoma can’t do is look ahead to next week as they have the big showdown with their rival down south. They’ve got to take care of business against a pair of teams from the Sunflower State on an NCAA Tournament trajectory.

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Oklahoma Sooners’ offense shines in sweep of the Baylor Bears

The Sooners offense was firing on all cylinders as the Sooners swept the Baylor Bears.

This past weekend it was all about the offense for the Oklahoma Sooners as they dominated the [autotag]Baylor Bears[/autotag] en route to a sweep. The Sooners outscored the Bears 27-8 over the three games.

The big offensive outburst was in the first game on Saturday. The Sooners entered the bottom of the fifth inning only up 5-3. They went on to score seven runs in the frame, capped off by an [autotag]Ella Parker[/autotag] walk-off grand slam to complete the run rule.

Patty Gasso talked about what impressed her the most on Saturday.

“The offense was explosive throughout the lineup,” Gasso said. “Timely hits all throughout the lineup, all day long. I thought our defense was really good too. I thought we made some big plays. Pitching was good, there were a few hiccups, but overall it was a good solid day against a very good team.”

The Sooners, although still very good, hadn’t seemed like itself earlier in the season. But, like the rest of the team, they’ve caught fire. They are now averaging just over nine runs a game. They are averaging 10.7 runs per game in conference play.

This is great news for Oklahoma. The pitching has been pretty stellar all season long, but the hitting had to pick up, and it has so far. It’s a perfect time to do so, as the Sooners have a big time matchup this week in Lawrence against a surprising Kansas Jayhawks team before traveling to Austin to take on the Texas Longhorns.

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Best Photos from Oklahoma’s doubleheader sweep of the Baylor Bears

A look at the best photos from the Sooners doubleheader with the Baylor Bears

The Sooners are now on a 13-game winning streak after their sweep of the Baylor Bears.

The wins over Baylor marked their first top 25 wins since early in the season when they knocked off top 10 teams Washington and Duke.

The games set the stage for a stretch of games against Wichita State, Kansas (yes, Kansas), and the Texas Longhorns. It’s a stretch that could have a huge impact on the Big 12 title race as Texas sits second in the standings and Kansas is a half-game back of Oklahoma State ahead of the Jayhawks series finale against Houston on Sunday.

It was another capacity crowd at Love’s Field on Saturday as the Sooners announced a record attendance of 4,520 on-site to watch the top 25 matchup. The fans in attendance were treated to a show as the Sooners scored 19 runs on Saturday and hit seven home runs.

Here’s a look at some of the best photos from the Sooners doubleheader sweep of Baylor.

‘I try not to over-contemplate things’: Ella Parker taking the same approach to conference play

Oklahoma’s star freshmen starting to settle in now that conference play is here.

The Oklahoma Sooners put together one of the best freshman classes in the country this past season. It’s highlighted by two players who have made immediate contributions, [autotag]Ella Parker[/autotag] and [autotag]Kasidi Pickering[/autotag].

Both have had great starts to their seasons. Parker is hitting .441, which is second on the team, with five home runs and 27 RBIs. Pickering is hitting .412 with four home runs and 22 RBIs.

Earlier in the season, the Sooners were playing five games just about every weekend, which can be a grind. Jayda Coleman even spoke about how tough that is and they are just now finding a groove as a team.

But it’s the same way for the freshmen. Ella Parker talked about her approach to playing five different teams in one weekend vs. playing the same team three times. “I keep it very simple,” Parker said. “I try not to over-contemplate things. That’s what’s helped me stay locked into each different team.”

Parker and Pickering are the future of the program, but they’ve been a big part of Oklahoma’s success this season. They both have played in every game so far this season. That right there just shows the confidence the team and coaches have in them.

But we’ve seen freshmen in every sport hit a freshman wall at some point in the season. As of now, that hasn’t happened with these girls and the hope is, it won’t happen anytime soon.

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‘She’s been waiting to have the offensive explosion’: Alynah Torres steals the show in Sooners win

The Sooners won big in their midweek game against UT Arlington in large part to the bat of Alynah Torres.

The Oklahoma Sooners put together a dominant showing in their midweek game against UT Arlington on Wednesday. The Sooners run-ruled the Mavs 12-1 in five innings.

It was in large part thanks to a big 2nd inning for the Sooners. They rattled off 10 runs to run away from the Mavericks. A big part of that was the bat of [autotag]Alynah Torres[/autotag].

Torres hit a two-run shot to center field early in the inning to help the Sooners take a 2-1 lead. She then made it back around and ended the scoring for the inning with another two-run shot, this time to left field to put Oklahoma up 10-1.

Patty Gasso shared what she has seen from her senior utility player. “She’s been waiting to have the offensive explosion that she’s used to before she came here,” Gasso said. “It’s hard when you have a new hitting coach and you are learning new things and trying to feel what feels right. So, a lot of that, I think she’s peaking now like this is what she’s been waiting for. She’s absolutely crushing the ball but what I love about Alynah is she’s just clutch in so many different ways. Not just offensively but defensively, we put her in a lot of different places.”

Torres transferred to Oklahoma last season after spending her first three years at Arizona State. She had 37 home runs in those three seasons before only having two a season ago at Oklahoma. This year, she is hitting .400 with four home runs and 14 RBIs.

Torres talked about what she thinks the difference has been for her lately. “I’m just having fun with my teammates, honestly, and just keeping it really simple,” Torres said. “I’m not trying to critique everything I’m doing, just having fun and seeing ball, hit ball.”

Torres is another one of several Sooners starting to find their groove. Now, it’s up to them to keep it going as Oklahoma begins a three-game series with a top 25 Baylor team.

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‘You can see a kind of energy switch’: Jayda Coleman talks about when the Sooners settled in

Jayda Coleman after a rough start is starting to round into form for the Sooners.

Earlier in the season the Oklahoma Sooners just looked off. It was hard to pinpoint what exactly the issue was but they just didn’t look as crisp as we had grown accustomed to seeing.

Whether that was in the field, pitching or even at the plate the team just hadn’t locked in yet. Nothing was a greater example of that than their loss to Louisiana snapping their 71-game winning streak. It wasn’t just that they lost, but there were several uncharacteristic errors in the field and on the base paths that led to the loss.

One of the players it was most noticeable with was [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag]. Coleman has been one of the best players on the team since she first came to Norman back in 2021. She’s been instrumental in them winning three straight national championships.

Her defense is elite and has been good this year as well but something has seemed off with her offense until lately. Coleman talked about what was happening earlier in the season.

“It’s really hard to get into your groove when you’re playing five different teams I feel like,” Coleman said. “So, those first three tournaments are always kind of brutal. But honestly probably around when we lost our first game, probably that next practice you can see a kind of energy switch towards our team and we usually have that every year. There’s a point in the season where we are like ‘Okay, now we know how it’s supposed to feel. This is what it’s supposed to feel like every day at practice and when we come to the games, it should show up.’ So, I would say somewhere around our first loss.”

Coleman is batting .529 since the loss to Louisiana. She’s also hit one home run and has six RBIs in that stretch. It’s been clear since the loss that Coleman and the Sooners are settling into a groove.

Which is a scary sign for the rest of the college softball world.

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Tiare Jennings earns Big 12 Player of the Week award

After a huge weekend against Texas Tech, Tiare Jennings earned Big 12 Player of the Week honors.

It was an incredible week for Tiare Jennings and the Oklahoma Sooners. In the Sooners’ 5-0 week, Jennings was fantastic, hitting .538 with three home runs, two doubles, 12 RBIs, and five walks.

Her 12 RBIs led the conference last week, and Jennings received the Big 12 Player of the Week award. It’s the eighth time in her career that Jennings has won the weekly award.

Oklahoma’s national player of the year candidate is now hitting .423 on the season. She’s tied for the team lead with 10 home runs and is leading the team in RBIs with 37, which is second in the Big 12. Her two doubles brought her into a tie with Sooners legend Sydney Romero for the most in program history with 58.

Despite changing positions, Jennings is on pace for another fantastic year at the plate. This past week, Jennings helped Oklahoma’s offense explode for 60 runs in their five games last week.

The Sooners are back in action Wednesday against UT Arlington at Love’s Field. The Mavericks are 10-16 in 2024 and have gone 7-3 in their last 10 games.

More: How to watch No. 1 Oklahoma vs. UT Arlington

More: Big 12 softball standings

More: 5 takeaways from Oklahoma’s sweep of Texas Tech

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.