Oklahoma softball: Jocelyn Alo a finalist for USA Softball Collegiate Player of Year
By Chip Rouse
Oklahoma softball senior Jocelyn Alo is one of three finalists for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year.
The Sooner slugger joins reigning Collegiate Player of the Year winner Rachel Garcia of UCLA and Washington’s Gabbie Plain as finalists for the prestigious softball honor.
Alo has had a spectacular season for the No. 1-ranked Sooners, and she has already announced she plan to return for a fifth season in 2022, taking advantage of the one-year NCAA waiver granting an extra year of eligibility to student-athletes due to the 2020 pandemic year.
The four-year OU starter is the nation-leader in home runs this season, with 27, and slugging percentage (.1.120). She is second in NCAA Division I softball with 75 runs batted in and fifth in hitting with a career-high .479 batting average.
Alo has homered in 25 of Oklahoma’s 47 games and set an NCAA record earlier in the season with a home run in seven consecutive games. Her 81 career home runs are 14 away from tying former Sooner Lauren Chamberlain for the NCAA record.
OU freshman Tiare Jennings was a top-10 finalist for USA Softball’s Player of the Year honor this season along with Alo.
The 2021 Big 12 Player of the Year is the third Oklahoma Sooner to become a top-three finalist to the Collegiate Player of the Year award in softball. Sydney Romero was one of the three finalists in 2019, when UCLA’s Garcia won the award. Keilani Ricketts (2010-13) won the award in back-to-back seasons in 2012 and ’13.
Alo leads the Sooners, the No. 1 overall seed in the 2021 NCAA Women’s Softball Championship, into the regional round this weekend as OU hosts Wichita State, Texas A&M and Morgan State in the Norman Regional.