2021 Oklahoma Sooners softball team


The 2021 Oklahoma Sooners softball team was an American college softball team that represented the University of Oklahoma during the 2021 NCAA Division I softball season. The Sooners were led by Patty Gasso in her twenty-seventh season, and played their home games at OU Softball Complex. They competed in the Big 12 Conference, where they finished the season with a 56–4 record, including 16–1 in conference play.

2021 Oklahoma Sooners softball
National Champion
Big 12 Tournament champion
Big 12 regular season champion
ConferenceBig 12 Conference
Record56–4 (16–1 Big 12)
Head coach
Home stadiumOU Softball Complex
Seasons
← 2020
2022 →
2021 Big 12 Conference softball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 1 Oklahoma  ‍y 16 1   .941 56 4   .933
No. 7 Oklahoma State  ‍‍‍y 15 3   .833 48 12   .800
No. 11 Texas  ‍‍‍y 12 6   .667 43 14   .754
Baylor  ‍‍‍y 8 9   .471 27 23   .540
Iowa State  ‍‍‍y 6 12   .333 34 23   .596
Texas Tech  ‍‍‍ 3 15   .167 21 26   .447
Kansas  ‍‍‍ 2 16   .111 22 26   .458
† – Conference champion
‡ – Tournament champion
y – Invited to the NCAA tournament
As of June 10, 2021[1]
Rankings from NFCA/USA Today

The Sooners won the 2021 Big 12 Tournament, and qualified for the 2021 NCAA Division I softball tournament. They advanced to the 2021 Women's College World Series, where they defeated Florida State in three games to win their fifth championship in program history.[2] The Sooners homered in 58 of their 60 games, including 45 multi-home run games, and set the NCAA Division I single-season record for team batting average (.405), team slugging percentage (.778), on-base percentage (.490), home runs (161), runs scored (638), runs per game (10.63), home runs per game (2.68) and total bases (1,279).[3] They also set Women's College World Series records for home runs (15), runs scored (49) and hits (67).[4]

Roster

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2021 Oklahoma Sooners roster
 

Pitchers

  • 4 – Shannon Saile – Redshirt Senior
  • 7 – Olivia Rains – Sophomore
  • 13 – Macy McAdoo – Sophomore
  • 18 – Brooke Vestal – Redshirt Sophomore
  • 19 – Nicole May – Freshman
  • 42 – Giselle JuarezRedshirt Senior
  • 48 – Alanna Thiede – Sophomore

Catchers

Outfielders

  • 1 – Rylie Boone – Sophomore
 

Infielders

  • 3 – Grace LyonsJunior
  • 5 – Taylon Snow – Senior
  • 12 – Mackenzie Donihoo – Sophomore
  • 20 – Jana Johns – Senior
  • 23 – Tiare JenningsFreshman
  • 33 – Zaida Puni – Freshman

Utility

  • 6 – Paige Knight – Freshman
  • 11 – Nicole MendesRedshirt Senior
  • 21 – Grace Green – Junior
  • 24 – Jayda ColemanFreshman
  • 25 – Raylee Pogue – Sophomore
  • 78 – Jocelyn AloSenior
 
Reference:[5]

Schedule

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2021 Oklahoma Sooners softball game log
Regular season (42–2)
Post-season (14–2)
  •   Win
  •   Loss
  •   Postponement
  • Bold: Sooners team member
  • Reference:[6]
  • Rankings from NFCA:
  • (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Rankings

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314Final
NFCA / USA Today4321111111111111
Softball America5221111111111111
ESPN.com/USA Softball4221111111111111
D1Softball2221111111111111

Awards and honors

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References

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  1. ^ "Big 12 Softball Standings". Big12Sports.com. Big 12 Conference. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  2. ^ Rohde, John (June 10, 2021). "Sooners Capture Fifth National Championship". soonersports.com. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  3. ^ Bitterman, Abby (June 10, 2021). "OU Softball (Extra Frames): Sooners broke record after record, all season and at the World Series". The Norman Transcript. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  4. ^ "Record Breakers". soonersports.com. June 29, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  5. ^ "2021 Softball Roster". soonersports.com. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  6. ^ "2021 Softball Schedule". soonersports.com. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  7. ^ "OU's Jennings, ISU's Spelhaug Take Opening Week Softball Awards". big12sports.com. February 16, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  8. ^ "OU's Jennings & Saile, OSU's Eberle Earn Softball Honors". big12sports.com. March 9, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  9. ^ "Oklahoma's Alo, Baylor's Binford take Week 5 Softball Honors". big12sports.com. March 16, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  10. ^ "Oklahoma's Alo, Baylor's Rodoni Earn Week 7 Softball Honors". big12sports.com. March 30, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  11. ^ "Sooners' Jennings, Longhorns' O'Leary clinch Week 8 Softball Awards". big12sports.com. April 6, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  12. ^ "Texas Tech's Zoch and Whaley With OU's Jennings Claim Week 11 Softball Awards". big12sports.com. April 20, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  13. ^ "Oklahoma's Saile, Texas' Burke Claim Week 12 Softball Awards". big12sports.com. April 27, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  14. ^ a b "2021 All-Big 12 Softball Awards Unveiled" (PDF). big12sports.com. May 20, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  15. ^ "Jocelyn Alo named 2021 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year". teamusa.org. June 1, 2021. Archived from the original on June 2, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  16. ^ "Oklahoma's Tiare Jennings named 2021 NFCA / Schutt Sports Division I National Freshman of the Year". nfca.org. June 1, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  17. ^ "2021 Big 12 Softball National Honors". big12sports.com. May 20, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.