Oklahoma softball: Five Sooners named NFCA First-Team All-Americans

Five Oklahoma softball players — four position players and a starting pitcher — have been named First-Team All-Americans by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

All five players were in the starting lineup for Oklahoma in Game 1 of the WCWS championship series against Florida State on Wednesday night.

The Sooners’ five honorees — pitcher Jordy Bahl, center fielder Jayda Coleman, second baseman Tiare Jennings, catcher Kinzie Hansen and third baseman Alyssa Brito — were the most by any one team. Brito was a unanimous selection, one of just six in the country.

In addition to the NFCA All-America selections, OU shortstop and team captain Grace Lyons was named winner of the Division I Rawlings Gold Glove Award. She is the first Oklahoma player to receive the award, which was introduced in 2022.

This is the third NFCA All-America selection for Coleman and Jennings. They have both earned the honor in each of their three seasons at Oklahoma. It is the second time Bahl and Hansen have been so honored and the first for Brito. It is Hansen’s first first-team selection. She was named to second team in 2022.

All five Sooners have played a major role in Oklahoma’s 60-1 season record and one of the best, if not the best, seasons in OU softball history.

With one more win in the Women’s College World Series, Oklahoma will complete its wire-to-wire quest as the best team in Division I softball and a record-tying third consecutive national championship, a feat accomplished only the 1988-90 UCLA Bruins. This group of Sooners would also finish the season with the best winning percentage in college softball history.