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Oklahoma's Tiare Jennings Named D1 Softball Rookie of the Year

OU's super freshman led the nation in doubles and ranked second behind teammate Jocelyn Alo with 27 home runs.

John E. Hoover

Oklahoma freshman Tiare Jennings was named Rookie of the Year by D1 Softball.

Jennings was the third Sooner award winner, joining Player of the Year Jocelyn Alo and Catcher of the Year Kinzie Hansen.

Tiare Jennings
Tiare Jennings :: John E. Hoover / SI Sooners

Jennings led the Sooners with 92 RBIs and a school record 25 doubles, and was second on the team (and second nationally) with 27 home runs, a .462 batting average and a 1.000 slugging percentage.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE AT D1 SOFTBALL

She homered in her first collegiate at-bat and hit three home runs in her first college softball game for the Sooners and delivered numerous clutch plays in the Women’s College World Series as OU won its fifth national championship.

“Jennings would have led the nation in slugging percentage (1.000) in two of the past six seasons,” D1 Softball writes. “She would have led the nation in RBIs (92) in each of the past seven seasons. Total bases? She would have led Division I in those in each of the past 13 seasons. Not led among freshmen, mind you. Led the nation. Everyone.”

Published
John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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