Oklahoma softball: Two Sooners among 25 finalists for Collegiate Player of Year

Two Oklahoma softball players are among the top-25 finalists for the USA Softball 2021 Collegiate Player of the Year award.

Senior Jocelyn Alo and freshman Tiare Jennings join three other Big 12 representatives who are among the 25 candidates fr om across the country who are in consideration for the prestigious national softball award

Alo, who is listed as a utility player but mostly has played left field this season, is having a banner 2021 season for the top-ranked Sooners. The native Hawaiian leads NCAA Division I softball with 23 home runs through 35 games. Her 1.125 slugging percentage also leads the country and her .500 batting average and .591 on-base percentage rank in the top 10 nationally.

The Sooner slugger has gone yard 77 times in her four years at Oklahoma and is 18 away from tying a program and NCAA record for career home runs, which is currently held by a former Sooner, Lauren Chamberlain.

Also has homered in 21 of Oklahoma’s games this season and has reached base in 47 of the Sooners’ last 48 games.

Jennings, the Sooner second baseman, is among the national leaders herself and in her very first collegiate season. Like her teammate Alo, Jennings has been clearing the fences fairly regularly this season. She has homered in 16 of OU’s 35 games and ranks second nationally behind Alo with 20 round-trippers. She tied an Oklahoma single-game record, hitting three home runs in the Sooners’ opening game.

One of a number of OU players from California, Jennings is tied for the Division I lead in runs batted in (60) with Alo, and her 1.116 slugging percentage ranks third in the country.

An Oklahoma player has won the Collegiate Player of the Year award twice, both awards going to former Sooner pitcher Keilani Ricketts in back-to-back years (2012 and 2013). Former Sooner Sydney Romero was a top-three finalist in 2019 and pitcher Giselle Juarez, who is on the current OU roster, was a top-10 finalist that same season.

The top-25 list will be cut down to 10 finalists on May 5 and then three finalists on May 19. The winner will be announced ahead of the Women’s College World Series, which starts June 3.