Oklahoma softball: Five Sooner softball players named to USA National Team rosters
By Chip Rouse
Five Oklahoma softball players (four from the current roster and one former Sooner) have been named to USA National Team rosters.
Three position players from the 2024 roster (seniors Jayda Coleman, Tiare Jennings and Kenzie Hansen) and a pitcher (Kelly Maxwell) will join former OU player and NCAA career home run leader Jocelyn Alo in representing the Sooners on the national team competing in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) 2024 Women's World Cup as well as the Japan All-Star Series this summer.
The Sooners lead all collegiate teams with four representatives in the Japan All-Star series. Jennings, who last participated on the world stage after her junior season as a participant in the Japan All-Star Series, is one of just two active players in NCAA Division I softball taking part this year in the Women's World Cup.
A three-time NFCA First-Team All-American, Jennings is the Oklahoma career leader in doubles (60), is second in program history in runs batted (294) in and extra-base hits (149) and third in hits (288), batting average (.425) and home runs (88).
For Hansen, this will be her third time participating in the Japan All-Star Series. A two-time All-American, the Sooner catcher won the 2023 Johnny Bench Award as the top catcher in Division I softball. In five seasons at Oklahoma, she has a career batting average of .389 along with 56 home runs and 189 RBI.
This will be Coleman's first appearance in the Japan All-Star Series. She was on the roster of the 2019 WBSC U-19 Women's World Cup team and helped lead the USA team to gold. The OU center fielder has played in all 224 Sooner softball games since her freshman season in 2021. Coleman ranks second in program history with a .430 career batting average and a. 557 on-base percentage. She is currently third in OU softball history with 260 runs scored.
Maxwell, who transferred to Oklahoma this season after four years at Oklahoma State, will be making her second appearance in the Japan All-Star Series. She pitched 7.0 innings, giving up just one run and striking out 14 at the 2023 World Cup Stage Event. Maxwell was the Big 12 Co-Pitcher of the Year in 2022 and is a two-time All-American. She has won 70 games in her collegiate career, including 25 shutouts, with a 1.59 ERA.
Alo is the NCAA career home run leader with 122. The former Sooner star also ranks No. 1 in NCAA softball in slugging percentage (.987) and total bases (761). Alo, who played at Oklahoma from 2018 to 2022, was a two-time USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year. She holds Oklahoma softball records for batting average (.445), on-base percentage (.557), slugging percentage, hits, runs, home runs, RBI (133), total bases and extra-base hits (126).