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Oklahoma softball: Almost all Sooners on 2023 postseason All-Big 12 Team

By Chip Rouse

Oklahoma's Jayda Coleman (24) watches after hitting a home run in the first inning of a college softball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Auburn Tigers at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Saturday, March 18, 2023.Ou Softball Vs Auburn
Oklahoma's Jayda Coleman (24) watches after hitting a home run in the first inning of a college softball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Auburn Tigers at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Saturday, March 18, 2023.Ou Softball Vs Auburn /
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The 2023 postseason All-Big 12 softball awards are overwhelmingly dominated by student athletes from the state of Oklahoma. Nine of the 12 players who make up the All-Big 12 First Team are from the Sooner State, and seven of those are Oklahoma softball players.

Practically the entire Oklahoma starting lineup are first-team selections, led by Big 12 Player of the Year Jayda Coleman. Other OU first-team selections include sophomore pitcher Jordy Bahl, senior catcher Kinzie Hansen, junior infielder Tiare Jennings, fifth-year senior shortstop and team captain Grace Lyons, fifth-year utility player Haley Lee, who transferred to OU from Texas A&M, and junior pitcher Nicole May.

The seven Sooners named to the first team is the most by any team since the Big 12 went to a 12-member format in 2013.

In addition, Patty Gasso was named Co-Coach of the Year along with Glenn Moore of Baylor. Bahl was named Pitcher of the Year and Lyons is the Defensive Player of the Year in the Big 12 for 2023.

Fifth-year senior pitcher Alex Storako, a transfer from Michigan, was the lone OU representative on the all-conference second team.

Oklahoma placed six players on the All-Big 12 First Team in 2022 and five in 2021. Coleman, Jennings and Lyons have been first-team selections in each of the last three years. Lyons has been Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year for three consecutive seasons, underscoring Gasso’s tribute calling the Sooner shortstop the best at that position she has ever seen in the college game.

Gasso was Coach of the Year in both 2021 and 2022 in addition to her Co-Coach of the Year honors this season. The Sooner head coach of 29 seasons has been Coach of the Year in the conference a total of 15 times.

Coleman is the 16th Oklahoma softball player to be named Player of the Year in the Big 12.

The Sooners (49-1), ranked No. 1 in the nation all but one week this season, are preparing to play in the Big 12 Softball Championship this weekend. They are seeking their fourth conference tournament title in the last five years the tournament has been played after winning the Big 12 regular-season crown for the 11th consecutive season and 15th overall.

Oklahoma is currently riding a program-tying 41-game winning streak, the second longest all-time in NCAA softball history. The record is 47 straight by Arizona from 1996-97.

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