Coleman, Jennings Named Top 30 Freshman of the Year Finalists

NORMAN — University of Oklahoma softball freshmen Jayda Coleman and Tiare Jennings have been named two of the 30 finalists for the 2021 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year award, the NFCA announced Thursday.

The versatile Coleman has been a force in the field and at the plate for OU, batting .491 to go with 34 RBI, five home runs and 16 stolen bases. Coleman has started every game of her first-year campaign across the outfield or at first base. She holds a team-best .599 on-base percentage, drawing 25 walks to just five strikeouts. The native of The Colony, Texas, went on a 19-game hit streak earlier in the year and currently holds an on-base streak of 31 games. Her 16 stolen bases is best on the team by 11 while her 52 hits ranks third among the potent OU offense.

Jennings, also a Top-25 finalist for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, has hit 22 home runs to go with 66 RBIs. Her RBI mark is second in the nation and she's third in the country for home runs, just three behind teammate Jocelyn Alo's 25. She holds an exceptional slash line of .492/.546/1.119. The San Pedro, Calif., product has homered in 18 of OU's 40 games and hit multiple homers in a game three times, beginning with the season opener at UTEP where she tied a single-game program record with three home runs in her first collegiate game. The frosh has started every game of the season at second or third base and holds a .971 fielding percentage with 35 putouts and 32 assists to just two errors.

Additionally, Jennings and Coleman rank eighth and ninth, respectively, in the country in batting average. The two are the only two top-30 finalists out of the Big 12 conference.

Since the award was created in 2014, Oklahoma is the only program with more than one winner with Paige Parker garnering the honor in 2015 and Jocelyn Alo winning the award in 2018.

On May 13, the list will be trimmed down to the top 10 and the three finalists will be announced May 27. The 2021 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year will be announced June 1.

No. 1 Oklahoma takes the weekend off before looking ahead to the final week of the regular season, May 3-9. OU begins with a midweek contest at Wichita State May 4 at 6 p.m. prior to the Bedlam series in Stillwater, May 7-9.

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