Oklahoma softball takes four of five Big 12 yearly awards, numerous players named to all-conference teams
Oklahoma softball is preparing to attempt to follow up their Big 12 regular season title with a victory in the annual conference tournament later this week. When they do so, they’ll be taking some hardware there with them as the Sooners took four of the five yearly Big 12 honors on Wednesday.
Head coach Patty Gasso was named Coach of the Year after leading the team to an absurd 42-2 record and the mantle as the widely-viewed best team in the country essentially all year long. She was an easy choice winning the award for the ninth straight year.
💥 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫 💥
9️⃣ straight Big 12 Coach of the Year honors. 🐐#ChampionshipMindset pic.twitter.com/JmW5KHiYKf
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) May 12, 2021
Senior outfielder Jocelyn Alo picked up the Big 12 Player of the Year selection after leading the country in home runs with 26. She’s the 14th Sooner to win the award.
💥 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝟏𝟐 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫 💥
The nation’s leader in home runs with 2️⃣6️⃣, Jocelyn Alo collects OU’s 14th Big 12 Player of the Year award. 🤙 #ChampionshipMindset pic.twitter.com/A3ydqQ8yyW
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) May 12, 2021
Freshman infielder Tiare Jennings earned the Freshman of the Year choice unanimously after leading the country with 72 RBIs and being just behind Alo with 23 home runs.
💥 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝟏𝟐 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫 💥
She leads the country with 72 RBIs and is third with 2️⃣3️⃣ HRs, Tiare Jennings is the 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 choice for Big 12 Freshman of the Year.#ChampionshipMindset pic.twitter.com/lAoUespxLD
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) May 12, 2021
Lastly, junior infielder Grace Lyons was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year as one of the elite defensive shortstops in the country on an Oklahoma team that is one of the top defensive teams in the sport.
💥 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝟏𝟐 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫 💥
The anchor of OU’s nation-leading defense at shortstop, Grace Lyons wins OU’s fourth Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year award of the last five seasons.#ChampionshipMindset pic.twitter.com/IFa2f4UeKt
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) May 12, 2021
Joining Alo, Jennings and Lyons on the All-Big 12 first team is senior pitcher Shannon Saile and freshman outfielder Jayda Coleman. Senior pitcher Giselle Juarez, senior catcher Lynnsie Elam and sophomore infielder Mackenzie Donihoo were named to the All-Big 12 second team.
Coleman, Jennings and freshman pitcher Nicole May were selected to the All-Big 12 freshman team as well to round out the plethora of honors for the Sooners.
This team had a tremendous year so all of these awards really come as no surprise. But, as they would all surely agree, they don’t mean nearly as much as finishing off the year with a championship would.
The Sooners will begin postseason play in the conference tournament on Friday in Oklahoma City against Baylor at 2:00 p.m. CT.
