Coleman, Jennings Freshman of the Year Finalists

NORMAN — University of Oklahoma softball freshmen Jayda Coleman and Tiare Jennings have been named two of the three finalists for the NFCA/Schutt Sports Division I National Freshman of the Year award, the NFCA announced Thursday. Clemson's Valerie Cagle joins the Sooner duo as the third finalist.

The versatile Coleman, named First Team All-Big 12, has been a force in the field and at the plate for OU, batting .478 to go with 46 RBI, eight home runs and 19 stolen bases. Coleman has started every game of her first-year campaign across the outfield or at first base. She holds a team-best .584 on-base percentage, drawing 31 walks to just eight 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 41 games. Her 19 stolen bases is best on the team by 12 while her 67 hits ranks second among the potent OU offense.

The Big 12 Freshman of the Year, Jennings, also a Top-10 finalist for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, has hit 25 home runs to go with 84 RBIs. Her RBI mark leads in the nation and she's tied for second in the country for home runs, just three behind teammate Jocelyn Alo's 28. She holds an exceptional slash line of .488/.536/1.067. The San Pedro, Calif., product has homered in 21 of OU's 50 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 .969 fielding percentage with 54 putouts and 41 assists to just three errors.

Additionally, Jennings and Coleman rank second and fifth, respectively, in the country in batting average.

Oklahoma is the one of two programs in the award's history with two of the three finalists, joining Florida's Amanda Lorenz (winner) and Kelly Barnhill in 2016.

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.

The 2021 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year will be announced June 1.