Oklahoma's Jordy Bahl Named Finalist for Freshman of the Year

OU is vying to become the first school with back-to-back winners of the award, which three Sooners have won previously.

John E. Hoover | May 26, 2022

Oklahoma's Jordy Bahl Named Finalist for Freshman of the Year /

Oklahoma freshman Jordy Bahl has been named one of three finalists for the 2022 NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year award.

The National Fastpitch Coaches Association announced the three finalists Thursday for the award, presented by Shutt Sports.

Bahl is joined by Virginia Tech’s Emma Lemley and Arizona State’s Cydney Sanders as finalist for the award. OU’s Tiare Jennings won the award last year.

Bahl has pitched 132 1/3 innings this season with a 0.95 earned run average with 199 strikeouts and just 29 walks.

Her ERA ranks fifth in the nation, as she’s given up just 18 earned runs (23 runs total) with a opponents batting average of .137.

In Big 12 Conference play, Bahl posted a 1.30 ERA in 53 2/3 innings, with 71 strikeouts and 13 walks and didn’t allow a home run.

Bahl has missed the last two weekends with arm soreness as the Sooners played the Big 12 Conference tournament and last weekend's Norman Regional without her.

OU’s Paige Parker won the award in 2015, and Sooner slugger Jocelyn Alo received it in 2018, giving Oklahoma three of the award’s eight total winners. Last year, Jennings and classmate Jayda Coleman were among the three finalists. No school has produced consecutive winners of the NFCA Freshman of the Year award.

The winner will be announced May 31.

OU plays host to Central Florida this weekend in the NCAA Norman Super Regional at Marita Hynes Field. Friday’s opener is set for a 3:30 p.m. start on ESPN.

Published May 26, 2022

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.