OU Softball: Oklahoma Freshman a Finalist for National Award

As the Sooners prepare to take on Florida State in the Norman Super Regional, Parker prepares to face off against one of the other three finalists.

John E. Hoover | May 23, 2024

Ella Parker / John E. Hoover

Oklahoma freshman Ella Parker has been named one of three finalists for 2024 DI Freshman of the Year.

The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) announced the three finalists on Thursday, and two of them are facing off this weekend in Norman.

Florida State’s Jaysoni Beachum and Florida’s Keagan Rothrock are the other finalists for the award. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, May 28, prior to the start of the 2024 NCAA Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City.

The No. 2-seeded Sooners and No. 15 Seminoles meet at Love's Field on Thursday and Friday in the Norman Super Regional. Thursday's 6 p.m. opener has been delayed by lightning in the area. The winner advances to the eight-team WCWS field.

Parker has enjoyed a phenomenal debut campaign with OU, batting .413 with a .516 on-base percentage, a .747 slugging percntage and a 1.263 OPS (on base-plus-slugging) in her freshman season, crushing 12 home runs and 14 doubles while ranking second among her teammates with 57 RBIs. The first-year Sooner leads the club with 15 stolen bases and a .565 weighted on-base average (wOBA) and ranks second in runs driven in. Her 56 runs scored rank third while her .453 batting average vs. right-handed pitchers is first on the team.

The freshman has been one of Oklahoma’s top threats with runners in scoring position, batting .429 with a 1.289 OPS in those situations.

Since its inception in 2014, the Tucci/NFCA National Freshman of the Year award has recognized the Nation's top freshman in several collegiate divisions.

Paige Parker (2015), Jocelyn Alo (2018), Tiare Jennings (2021) and Jordy Bahl (2022) each won the award in their debut season with the Sooners. No other NCAA program has had more than one winner. Parker joins the four prior Sooner winners along with Jayda Coleman (2021) and Shay Knighten (2016) as the seventh OU player to be named finalist.

OU Media Relations contributed to this report.

Published May 23, 2024

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.