2021 Oklahoma Sooners softball team

2021 Oklahoma Sooners softball
2021 Oklahoma Sooners softball
National Champion; Big 12 Tournament champion; Big 12 regular season champion
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Record	56–4 (16–1 Big 12)
Head coach	Patty Gasso (27th season);
Home stadium	OU Softball Complex
	Seasons ← 2020 2022 →

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 Big 12 Conference softball standings
v t e	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

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 Juarez – Redshirt Senior
48 – Alanna Thiede – Sophomore

Catchers

1 – Kinsey Koeltzow – Junior
9 – Kinzie Hansen – Sophomore
22 – Lynnsie Elam – Senior

Outfielders

1 – Rylie Boone – Sophomore

Infielders

3 – Grace Lyons – Junior
5 – Taylon Snow – Senior
12 – Mackenzie Donihoo – Sophomore
20 – Jana Johns – Senior
23 – Tiare Jennings – Freshman
33 – Zaida Puni – Freshman

Utility

6 – Paige Knight – Freshman
11 – Nicole Mendes – Redshirt Senior
21 – Grace Green – Junior
24 – Jayda Coleman – Freshman
25 – Raylee Pogue – Sophomore
78 – Jocelyn Alo – Senior

Reference:^[5]

Schedule

2021 Oklahoma Sooners softball game log

Regular season (42–2)

February (12–0)
Date	Opponent	Rank	Site/stadium	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Overall Record	Big 12 Record
February 11	at UTEP	No. 4	Helen of Troy Field El Paso, TX	29–0 ⁽⁵⁾	Juarez (1–0)	Salazar (0–1)	Rains (1)	0	1–0	–
February 11	vs Abilene Christian	No. 4	Helen of Troy Field	9–0 ⁽⁵⁾	May (1–0)	White (0–1)	—	0	2–0	–
February 12	vs Abilene Christian	No. 4	Helen of Troy Field	11–0 ⁽⁵⁾	Juarez (2–0)	Sinnott (0–1)	—	0	3–0	–
February 12	at UTEP	No. 4	Helen of Troy Field	21–2 ⁽⁵⁾	May (2–0)	Collins (0–1)	—	0	4–0	–
February 21	at Houston	No. 2	Cougar Softball Stadium Houston, TX	12–4 ⁽⁶⁾	Juarez (3–0)	Hertenberger (1–1)	—	120	5–0	–
February 21	at Houston	No. 2	Cougar Softball Stadium	5–3	May (3–0)	Lee (0–1)	Saile (1)	120	6–0	–
February 22	vs. Tarleton	No. 2	Cougar Softball Stadium	13–0 ⁽⁵⁾	Saile (1–0)	Bridges (0–3)	—	0	7–0	–
February 26	vs. New Mexico State	No. 2	Farrington Tempe, AZ	8–0 ⁽⁵⁾	Saile (2–0)	Guindon (1–3)	—	147	8–0	–
February 26	at Arizona State	No. 2	Farrington	5–3	Juarez (4–0)	Royalty (3–1)	Saile (2)	285	9–0	–
February 27	vs. New Mexico State	No. 2	Farrington	33–4 ⁽⁵⁾	May (3–0)	Hannappel (0–1)	—	0	10–0	–
February 27	at Grand Canyon	No. 2	GCU Softball Stadium Phoenix, AZ	14–0 ⁽⁵⁾	Saile (3–0)	Hambrick (2–4)	—	65	11–0	–
February 27	vs. Portland State	No. 2	GCU Softball Stadium	8–0 ⁽⁵⁾	Juarez (5–0)	Grey (1–1)	—	45	12–0	–

March (13–0)
Date	Opponent	Rank	Site/stadium	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Overall Record	Big 12 Record
March 5	Sam Houston State	No. 1	OU Softball Complex Norman, OK	7–0	May (5–0)	Billmeier (0–1)	—	184	13–0	–
March 6	No. 18 Missouri	No. 1	OU Softball Complex	5–2	Juarez (6–0)	Krings (3–1)	—	0	14–0	–
March 6	ULM	No. 1	OU Softball Complex	9–0 ⁽⁵⁾	Saile (4–0)	Chavarria (1–2)	—	216	15–0	–
March 7	No. 18 Missouri	No. 1	OU Softball Complex	11–0 ⁽⁵⁾	Saile (5–0)	Weber (5–1)	—	150	16–0	–
March 7	Sam Houston State	No. 1	OU Softball Complex	17–0 ⁽⁵⁾	Thiede (1–0)	Fitzpatrick (0–2)	—	200	17–0	–
March 10	UT Arlington	No. 1	OU Softball Complex	14–0 ⁽⁵⁾	May (6–0)	Gardiner (1–1)	—	405	18–0	–
March 12	Houston	No. 1	Hall of Fame Stadium Oklahoma City, OK	9–1 ⁽⁵⁾	Saile (6–0)	Lee (2–4)	—	0	19–0	–
March 12	Kansas City	No. 1	Hall of Fame Stadium	6–2	Juarez (7–0)	Hoveland (5–3)	—	0	20–0	–
March 14	Liberty	No. 1	Hall of Fame Stadium	5–4	May (7–0)	Wagoner (2–2)	—	550	21–0	–
March 14	Liberty	No. 1	Hall of Fame Stadium	16–0 ⁽⁵⁾	May (8–0)	Kirby (4–3)	—	1,083	22–0	–
March 26	at Iowa State	No. 1	Cyclone Sports Complex Ames, IA	9–7	Juarez (8–0)	Charles (10–3)	—	527	23–0	1–0
March 27	at Iowa State	No. 1	Cyclone Sports Complex	10–2 ⁽⁶⁾	Saile (7–0)	Swain (1–2)	—	560	24–0	2–0
March 28	at Iowa State	No. 1	Cyclone Sports Complex	22–2 ⁽⁵⁾	May (9–0)	Charles (10–4)	—	0	25–0	3–0

April (14–1)
Date	Opponent	Rank	Site/stadium	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Overall Record	Big 12 Record
April 1	Kansas	No. 1	OU Softball Complex	14–0 ⁽⁵⁾	Saile (8–0)	Goff (7–3)	—	449	26–0	4–0
April 2	Kansas	No. 1	OU Softball Complex	6–2	Juarez (9–0)	Mills (1–2)	—	445	27–0	5–0
April 3	Kansas	No. 1	OU Softball Complex	10–1 ⁽⁵⁾	Juarez (10–0)	Hamilton (3–6)	—	465	28–0	6–0
April 10	vs. Mississippi State	No. 1	Dr. Billy Bundrick Field Ruston, LA	9–0 ⁽⁵⁾	Juarez (11–0)	Williams (3–4)	—	500	29–0	–
April 10	at Louisiana Tech	No. 1	Dr. Billy Bundrick Field	10–0 ⁽⁵⁾	May (10–0)	Hernandez (6–6)	—	500	30–0	–
April 16	No. 7 Texas	No. 1	OU Softball Complex	11–1 ⁽⁵⁾	Juarez (12–0)	O'Leary (9–1)	—	459	31–0	7–0
April 17	No. 7 Texas	No. 1	OU Softball Complex	10–2 ⁽⁵⁾	Saile (9–0)	Jacobsen (11–3)	—	484	32–0	8–0
April 18	No. 7 Texas	No. 1	OU Softball Complex	9–0 ⁽⁵⁾	May (11–0)	O'Leary (9–2)	—	497	33–0	9–0
April 20	at No. 21 Georgia	No. 1	Jack Turner Stadium Athens, GA	6–7 ⁽⁹⁾	Mary Wilson (15–5)	May (11–1)	—	400	33–1	–
April 20	at No. 21 Georgia	No. 1	Jack Turner Stadium	12–3 ⁽⁵⁾	Saile (10–0)	Cutting (6–5)	—	400	34–1	–
April 24	Texas Tech	No. 1	OU Softball Complex	15–0 ⁽⁵⁾	Juarez (13–0)	Zoch (9–10)	—	766	35–1	10–0
April 24	Texas Tech	No. 1	OU Softball Complex	5–0	Saile (11–0)	Edmoundson (7–9)	—	766	36–1	11–0
April 25	Texas Tech	No. 1	OU Softball Complex	20–0 ⁽⁵⁾	Juarez (14–0)	Zoch (9–11)	—	752	37–1	12–0
April 27	at Baylor	No. 1	Getterman Stadium Waco, TX	7–1	Juarez (15–0)	Rodoni (9–7)	—	600	38–1	13–0
April 27	at Baylor	No. 1	Getterman Stadium	11–0 ⁽⁶⁾	Saile (12–0)	Mansell (7–4)	—	600	39–1	14–0

May (3–1)
Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Overall Record	Big 12 Record
May 4	at Wichita State	No. 1	Wilkins Stadium Wichita, KS	14–3 ⁽⁵⁾	Saile (13–0)	Lange (19–6)	—	730	40–1	–
May 7	at No. 9 Oklahoma State	No. 1	Cowgirl Stadium Stillwater, OK	4–6	Eberle (19–1)	Juarez (15–1)	—	609	40–2	14–1
May 8	at No. 9 Oklahoma State	No. 1	Cowgirl Stadium	6–4	Saile (14–0)	Maxwell (14–3)	May (1)	652	41–2	15–1
May 9	at No. 9 Oklahoma State	No. 1	Cowgirl Stadium	11–8	May (12–1)	Eberle (19–2)	—	663	42–2	16–1

Post-season (14–2)

Big 12 tournament (3–0)
Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Overall Record	B12T Record
May 14	vs. Baylor	No. 1	Hall of Fame Stadium	10–2 ⁽⁵⁾	Saile (15–0)	Binford (5–4)	—	3,839	43–2	1–0
May 14	vs. Texas Tech	No. 1	Hall of Fame Stadium	8–2	Juarez (16–1)	Edmoundson (7–11)	—	3,839	44–2	2–0
May 15	vs. No. 9 Oklahoma State Final	No. 1	Hall of Fame Stadium	10–2 ⁽⁶⁾	Saile (16–0)	Eberle (21–3)	—	3,879	45–2	3–0

Norman Regional (3–0)
Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Overall Record	Regional Record
May 21	vs. Morgan State	No. 1	OU Softball Complex	19–0 ⁽⁶⁾	Juarez (17–1)	Rundlett (12–8)	—	1,555	46–2	1–0
May 22	vs. Wichita State	No. 1	OU Softball Complex	7–5	Juarez (18–1)	Lange (22–6)	May (2)	1,556	47–2	2–0
May 23	vs. Wichita State	No. 1	OU Softball Complex	24–7	May (13–1)	Lange (22–8)	—	1,668	48–2	3–0

Norman Super Regional (2–0)
Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Overall Record	Super Reg. Record
May 28	vs. No. 16 Washington	No. 1	OU Softball Complex	4–2	May (14–1)	Plain (32–4)	—	1,758	49–2	1–0
May 28	vs. No. 16 Washington	No. 1	OU Softball Complex	9–1 ⁽⁵⁾	Saile (17–0)	Plain (32–5)	—	1,800	50–2	2–0

Women's College World Series (6–2)
Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Overall Record	WCWS Record
June 3	vs. James Madison First round	No. 1	Hall of Fame Stadium	3–4 ⁽⁸⁾	Alexander (17–1)	Saile (17–1)	—	—	50–3	0–1
June 5	vs. Georgia First round	No. 1	Hall of Fame Stadium	8–0 ⁽⁶⁾	Juarez (19–1)	Wilson Avant (20–12)	—	—	51–3	1–1
June 5	vs. No. 2 UCLA Second round	No. 1	Hall of Fame Stadium	10–3	Juarez (20–1)	Garcia (18–3)	—	—	52–3	2–1
June 6	vs. James Madison Semifinals	No. 1	Hall of Fame Stadium	6–3	May (15–1)	Alexander (18–2)	—	—	53–3	3–1
June 7	vs. James Madison Semifinals	No. 1	Hall of Fame Stadium	7–1	Juarez (21–1)	Alexander (18–3)	—	—	54–3	4–1
June 8	vs. No. 10 Florida State Final – Game 1	No. 1	Hall of Fame Stadium	4–8	Watson (12–1)	May (15–2)	—	12,173	54–4	4–2
June 9	vs. No. 10 Florida State Final – Game 2	No. 1	Hall of Fame Stadium	6–2	Juarez (22–1))	Sandercock (27–4)	—	12,115	55–4	5–2
June 10	vs. No. 10 Florida State Final – Game 3	No. 1	Hall of Fame Stadium	5–1	Juarez (23–1))	Watson (12–2)	—	10,830	56–4	6–2

Win
Loss
Postponement
Bold: Sooners team member
Reference:^[6]

Rankings from NFCA:
(#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
NFCA / USA Today	4	3	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Softball America	5	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
ESPN.com/USA Softball	4	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
D1Softball	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

Awards and honors

Weekly Awards
Player	Award	Date Awarded	Ref.
Tiare Jennings	Big 12 Player of the Week	February 16, 2021	^[7]
Tiare Jennings	Big 12 Player of the Week	March 9, 2021	^[8]
Shannon Saile	Co-Big 12 Pitcher of the Week	March 9, 2021	^[8]
Jocelyn Alo	Big 12 Player of the Week	March 16, 2021	^[9]
Jocelyn Alo	Big 12 Player of the Week	March 30, 2021	^[10]
Tiare Jennings	Big 12 Player of the Week	April 7, 2021	^[11]
Tiare Jennings	Co-Big 12 Player of the Week	April 20, 2021	^[12]
Shannon Saile	Big 12 Pitcher of the Week	April 27, 2021	^[13]

Individual Awards
Player	Award	Ref.
Jocelyn Alo	Big 12 Player of the Year USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year	^[14] ^[15] ^[16]
Tiare Jennings	Big 12 Freshman of the Year NFCA National Freshman of the Year
Grace Lyons	Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year
Patty Gasso	Big 12 Coach of the Year

All-Big 12
Player	Selection	Ref.
Jocelyn Alo	First Team	^[14]
Jayda Coleman	First Team
Tiare Jennings	First Team
Grace Lyons	First Team
Shannon Saile	First Team
Mackenzie Donihoo	Second Team
Lynnsie Elam	Second Team
Giselle Juarez	Second Team
Jayda Coleman	Freshman Team
Tiare Jennings	Freshman Team
Nicole May	Freshman Team

All-American
Player	Selection	Ref.
Jocelyn Alo	First Team	^[17]
Jayda Coleman	First Team
Tiare Jennings	First Team
Kinzie Hansen	Second Team
Grace Lyons	Second Team

References

^ "Big 12 Softball Standings". Big12Sports.com. Big 12 Conference. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
^ Rohde, John (June 10, 2021). "Sooners Capture Fifth National Championship". soonersports.com. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
^ 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.
^ "Record Breakers". soonersports.com. June 29, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
^ "2021 Softball Roster". soonersports.com. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
^ "2021 Softball Schedule". soonersports.com. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
^ "OU's Jennings, ISU's Spelhaug Take Opening Week Softball Awards". big12sports.com. February 16, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
^ "OU's Jennings & Saile, OSU's Eberle Earn Softball Honors". big12sports.com. March 9, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
^ "Oklahoma's Alo, Baylor's Binford take Week 5 Softball Honors". big12sports.com. March 16, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
^ "Oklahoma's Alo, Baylor's Rodoni Earn Week 7 Softball Honors". big12sports.com. March 30, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
^ "Sooners' Jennings, Longhorns' O'Leary clinch Week 8 Softball Awards". big12sports.com. April 6, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
^ "Texas Tech's Zoch and Whaley With OU's Jennings Claim Week 11 Softball Awards". big12sports.com. April 20, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
^ "Oklahoma's Saile, Texas' Burke Claim Week 12 Softball Awards". big12sports.com. April 27, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
^ ^a ^b "2021 All-Big 12 Softball Awards Unveiled" (PDF). big12sports.com. May 20, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
^ "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.
^ "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.
^ "2021 Big 12 Softball National Honors". big12sports.com. May 20, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.

[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.

[All-Big-12-14] "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.

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2021 Oklahoma Sooners softball

National Champion Big 12 Tournament champion Big 12 regular season champion
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Record	56–4 (16–1 Big 12)
Head coach	Patty Gasso (27th season)
Home stadium	OU Softball Complex
Seasons ← 2020 2022 →