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Oklahoma softball: Sooners dominate Big 12 postseason awards

By Chip Rouse

MANHATTAN, KS - NOVEMBER 21: A general view of the the Big 12 logo on a yard marker during a game between the Kansas State Wildcats and the Iowa State Cyclones on November 21, 2015 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas. (Photo by Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images)
MANHATTAN, KS - NOVEMBER 21: A general view of the the Big 12 logo on a yard marker during a game between the Kansas State Wildcats and the Iowa State Cyclones on November 21, 2015 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas. (Photo by Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images) /
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The nine-time defending Big 12 champion Oklahoma softball team dominated the 2021 postseason conference awards.

Related Story. Sooners loaded with freshmen, West Coast talent. light

The top-ranked Sooners placed eight players on the All-Big 12 first and second teams and captured four of the five top individual awards.

Senior Jocelyn Alo was named Big 12 Player of the Year, junior Grace Lyons was voted Defensive Player of the Year, and Tiare Jennings  took Freshman of the Year honors. In addition, Patty Gasso was named Coach of the Year for the ninth consecutive year and 12th overall.

The only individual award not claimed by an Oklahoma Sooner was Pitcher of the Year, which went to Carrie Eberle of Oklahoma State.

Alo leads the NCAA Division I softball this season in home runs (26) and slugging percentage (1.147) and is second nationally in RBI (71). She is the 14th OU player to be named Big 12 Player of the Year and the fifth in the last six seasons. Alo has indicated that she is planning to return for a fifth season in 2022 as a result of the one-year NCAA waiver granting student-athletes an extra year of eligibility because of the shortened 2020 pandemic season.

Lyons was a big reason Oklahoma leads the nation in fielding this season. The Arizona native has started all 44 Sooner games this season and all 131 in her three years at OU. In the 2021 regular season, she made 45 putouts and 50 assists from her shortstop position while committing just three errors. Lyons is the fourth OU Sooner to receive the Defensive Player of the Year award in the Big 12 era.

Jennings is one of 10 finalists, along with teammate Alo, for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award. She has enjoyed a sensational freshman season. Her 2021 regular-season numbers include 23 home runs (third best in the country), a nation-best 72 runs batted in and a .468 batting average (fourth in the Big 12 and 10th-best nationally).

Jennings is the sixth consecutive OU player to be voted Freshman of the Year in the conference and the ninth overall in the 25-year history of the Big 12.

Freshman Jayda Coleman, senior Shannon Saile join teammates Alo, Jennings and Lyons on the All-Big 12 First Team. Sophomore Mackenzie Donihoo, and seniors Lynnsie Elam and Giselle Juarez were named to the second team.

Three Sooners were also named to the Big 12 All-Freshman team. Pitcher Nicole May joins Jennings and Coleman in this category.

Oklahoma’s nine All-Big 12 honorees led all conference schools.

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