Oklahoma's softball superstar hit stride — just in time to cement legacy (2024)

NORMAN, Okla. — Tiare Jennings likes to keep a clear head.

There’s nothing too complex about the approach to the plate for the player climbing the record books in nearly every category for Oklahoma softball. She steps up to the box, quickly stretches, taps home plate a few times and takes a big, deep breath. She puts her uniform on the same way every game and wears her hair in one of two ways — braids or a bubble ponytail — but she doesn’t consider herself superstitious. Her biggest strength is staying calm.

“When I’m at my best there’s nothing that I think about when I’m at the plate,” Jennings said. “When I start to overthink or maybe reevaluate my game plan or second-guess, that’s when I find myself like, ‘OK, I’m not at my best right now.’ But, it’s been cool to see me switch out of those moments so fast.”

Her mental game is what Jennings says has improved the most since her first season at Oklahoma in 2021. But make no mistake, Jennings was elite from the start. In her freshman season, she led the NCAA with 25 doubles, ranked second in home runs (27) and had a .462 batting average, seventh-best in the nation. She was a pillar of the Sooners’ 2020 recruiting class — joined by outfielder Jayda Coleman and pitcher Nicole May — which has never finished a season without a national championship. This year, as the No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament, the Sooners hope to make it 4-for-4.

Jennings has started all but one game across her four seasons in Norman. She admits she’s never really hit a slump, but there is a part of her game that feels like it’s just now starting to click.

“There were parts of my freshman or sophom*ore year where I let softball not get fun anymore,” Jennings said. “But now I’m really just finding the joy in everything I’m doing. I’m just having the most fun right now.”

In last weekend’s Norman Regional, Jennings climbed to fifth in NCAA history with her 304th career RBI in a walk-off home run that lifted the Sooners over Cleveland State 9-0 in six innings. In the regional final against Oregon two days later, Jennings drove home Oklahoma’s go-ahead run with an RBI single that sealed a 3-2 Sooners victory.

Beautiful two-strike hitting puts us in front on a @_tiarejennings RBI single!#ChampionshipMindset pic.twitter.com/aFysELbUve

— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) May 19, 2024

Nothing is slowing down for the Oklahoma star, who was a top 10 finalist for USA Softball’s player of the year award. The Sooners will host a Super Regional starting Thursday against 2023 national runner-up Florida State, and with a Team USA appearance on deck this summer, Jennings might just be getting started.

“I think she is going to walk off this field just on fire,” Oklahoma head coach Patty Gasso said. “There are some of these guys that have not really hit their offensive peak yet and I think Tiare is going to be there.”

It was 𝐓𝐢𝐚 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞.#ChampionshipMindset | @_tiarejennings https://t.co/BBWpZIAU0a pic.twitter.com/HDSY2BoIbg

— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) May 18, 2024

Up to bat for the third time against Big 12 rival Houston last month, Jennings watched the first strike pass her. Two pitches later, she slammed the ball straight into the left field wall, a hit so hard the announcers said it may have left a dent.

At the time, Jennings didn’t know what that hit signified. It was the 293rd of her career, tying her for fourth on Oklahoma’s list of all-time hits leaders with the coach in the opposite dugout: Houston’s Kristin Vesely.

Tiare moves into 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡 in program history with hit No. 𝟐𝟗𝟑 of her career!#ChampionshipMindset | @_tiarejennings pic.twitter.com/0YiM7zVnnY

— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) April 20, 2024

“How dare you do that!” Gasso joked after the game, to which Jennings smiled.

“Definitely an honor, just remembering all those people on that list who set the bar high for me,” she said. “But nothing changes. There is no pressure on me to get higher on that list. Just continuing to be me and leave a legacy during my senior year.”

Jennings was nonchalant once again, like when she approaches the batter’s box. It’s the mindset that has always worked for her. In her senior season at St. Anthony (Calif.) High School, she batted .710 with six home runs and 19 RBIs. She graduated as the No. 2 recruit in her class, per Extra Inning Softball’s Elite 100. Though she originally wanted to play for hometown UCLA, her visit to Oklahoma puller her in.

“Since (Jennings) walked on campus she has been an elite hitter and she loves those big moments,” Gasso said. “She’s just timely. When I see her come to the plate I always feel excited about it because of the way she swings the bat.”

Jennings reached hit No. 300 in Oklahoma’s Big 12 tournament win against No. 1 seed Texas earlier this month, and that’s far from the only record list she’s climbing. Her 2022 WCWS was especially impressive, in which she set a record for RBIs (15) and joined former teammate Jocelyn Alo with a record five home runs. She also recorded the most bases in a single WCWS game with 11 against Texas in Game 1 of the 2022 championship series.

“She’s so even-keeled and such a calm player. She’s always represented that consistency and that constant to us on whichever team I’ve ever been on with her,” said Alyssa Brito, Jennings’ Sooners teammate who played travel ball with her from a young age. “She’s always that person who reminds us we’re good, we’ve been here before.”

At Oklahoma, Jennings ranks first in program history for career doubles (63), second in total bases (652) and RBIs (307), third in career batting average (.414) and home runs (94) and fourth in runs (270). And of course, she isn’t done yet.

“These are Sooner legends that have paved the way for me to even break these records,” Jennings said. “In the future, I know that records are meant to be broken. … I think it’s just cool to realize where this sport has come from, where these records even started and where they’re leading to. And it’s cool for me to be a part of something like this.”

In April, Jennings was named to USA Softball’s 16-player World Cup roster, which will compete for a world title in Castions de Strada, Italy, this summer. Since softball was cut from the 2024 Paris Olympics, the World Cup represents the biggest national stage for the sport.

Jennings will play alongside Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medallists Ally Carda (RHP), Rachel Garcia (RHP), Haylie McCleney (OF) and Dejah Mulipola (C). She’s one of two college athletes on the roster, joined by her friend and former travel teammate Maya Brady (UCLA).

“For me and her to be reunited is a dream come true,” Jennings said. “When I saw that we were on it together, we just called each other and were just screaming and ready to be together again.”

Jennings played for the USA Softball Women’s National Team in the 2022 Japan All-Star Series. Because of that appearance, she knew she was in the pool of players to be picked for the World Cup team, but the selection still struck her by surprise. She remembers getting the email notification while going to breakfast with her mom and celebrating as soon as they got there.

Softball will be renewed as an Olympic sport in the 2028 L.A. Olympics, which Jennings is monitoring.

“Obviously being from L.A., it couldn’t be any more sweeter if I do play with them,” Jennings said. “Or if not and I’m just watching, I’m just so happy that softball is going to get the opportunity to play in the Olympics in 2028.”

When asked what she wishes fans knew about her, her answer has little to do with the sport that has brought her so much success.

“People get so caught up in what we do, and for us, this is just something that we love to do, but it’s not who we are,” Jennings said. “Softball doesn’t define who I am and who we are. We’re more than just athletes and more than just softball players.”

Jennings will graduate this fall with a degree in sports business and plans on getting a master’s degree. She thinks about getting into name, image and likeness business or coaching, with the main goal of helping female athletes get paid “what they deserve.”

But for now, her eyes are on the Women’s College World Series and finishing a near-perfect career at Oklahoma. Because if she has anything to prove this postseason, it’s that you haven’t seen the best of Tiare Jennings yet.

“Her numbers and everything that she’s done over the past four years kind of speaks for itself,” Alyssa Brito said. “I can say going back to travel ball with the Batbusters, she’s been clutch. It’s in her DNA.”

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(Photo: Brian Bahr / Getty Images)

Jayna Bardahl is a college football staff editor for The Athletic. She has worked as an editor and reporter covering Big Ten football and men's basketball, and was an intern at The Boston Globe, where she covered the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots. Follow Jayna on Twitter @Jaynabardahl