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Tiare Jennings, Jayda Coleman Helping Lead U.S. Women's National Team to Gold-Medal Game

The pair are two of five former Oklahoma standouts who have helped the USWNT to a 4-0 start.
Ryan Aber|
USA's Jayda Coleman celebrates during the USA Softball WNT vs Canada in International Cup at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, July 31, 2026.
USA's Jayda Coleman celebrates during the USA Softball WNT vs Canada in International Cup at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, July 31, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Several former Oklahoma standouts have a chance to bring home the gold medal when the United States Women’s National Team takes on Japan in the championship game of the USA Softball International Cup at 7 p.m. Monday at Oklahoma City’s Devon Park.

The USWNT clinched a spot in the game with Sunday’s 6-2 win over the U.S. Women’s Elite Team, which features three more current and former Sooners.

With the game tied 1-1 in the bottom of the third, Tiare Jennings delivered a two-run single to put the USWNT on top, and they made it 4-1 on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Jayda Coleman.

In the sixth, Coleman reached base again, coming around to score on a two-run homer from former UCLA standout Megan Grant.

Jennings and Coleman each went 1 for 3, while Alyssa Brito finished 0 for 1.

Jocelyn Erickson, who began her collegiate career in Norman before transferring to Florida, was 1 for 2 with a run and a walk.

Kelly Maxwell allowed one hit and walked a batter in recording the game’s final two outs.

Current Oklahoma shortstop Gabbie Garcia was 0 for 2 for the Women’s Elite squad.

For the tournament so far, Jennings is 2 for 10 with three runs and five RBIs.

In Friday’s 10-7 come-from-behind victory over Canada, Jennings had a pair of sacrifice flies while Coleman went 1 for 3 with a sacrifice bunt. 

The U.S. trailed that game 5-0 in the middle of the first before chipping away.

The Americans came back to beat China 10-1 on Saturday.

Coleman is 2 for 9 in the tournament; Brito is 2 for 6 with two runs, three RBIs and a home run; and Erickson is 4 for 7 with four runs, four RBIs, a home run and a pair of walks.

Garcia is 2 for 11 with a run going into Monday afternoon’s matchup with Canada in the third-place game, while OU catcher Kendall Wells is 0 for 3 with a run, a sacrifice fly and two walks. Former Sooners’ standout Keilani Ricketts has allowed six runs, three earned, in 4 1/3 innings for that team.

Another former OU standout, infielder Ailana Agbayani, is playing for American Samoa in the tournament. Agbayani is 3 for 10 with four runs, two RBIs and three walks, leading off and playing shortstop for the team.

American Samoa is playing China in the fifth-place game.

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Ryan Aber
RYAN ABER

Ryan Aber has been covering Oklahoma football for more than a decade continuously and since 1999 overall. Ryan was the OU beat writer for The Oklahoman from 2013-2025, covering the transition from Bob Stoops to Lincoln Riley to Brent Venables. He covered OU men's basketball's run to the Final Four in 2016 and numerous national championships for the Sooners' women's gymnastics and softball programs. Prior to taking on the Sooners beat, Ryan covered high schools, the Oklahoma City RedHawks and Oklahoma City Barons for the newspaper from 2006-13. He spent two seasons covering Arkansas football for the Morning News of Northwest Arkansas before returning to his hometown of Oklahoma City. Ryan also worked at the Southwest Times Record in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and the Muskogee Phoenix. At the Phoenix, he covered OU's national championship run in 2000. Ryan is a graduate of Putnam City North High School in Oklahoma City and Northeastern State University in Tahlequah.

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