Tiare Rose Jennings was born to Maria and Ignacio Jennings in Torrance, California, and grew up in San Pedro.[1][2] She is of Samoan, Filipino and Mexican descent.[3] Jennings played travel ball for the OC Batbusters, and won the 2019 USA Elite Select World Fastpitch Championship.[4]
High school career
Jennings attended St. Anthony High School in Long Beach, California. During her freshman year, she was named the 2017 Southern Section Division 6 Player of the Year.[5] She battled injuries during her junior year. During her senior year, she batted .710 with six home runs and 19 run batted in (RBIs), 18 runs scored, and a 1.483 slugging percentage in a season that was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She was named the 2019–20 Gatorade California Softball Player of the Year.[6] She finished her high school career batting .581, with 111 hits, 61 RBIs and 16 home runs. She was ranked as the nations No. 2 recruit in the Class of 2020 by Extra Inning Softball's Elite 100 list and No. 4 on FloSoftball's Hot 100.[1]
College career
Jennings made her collegiate debut for Oklahoma on February 11, 2021, in a game against UTEP. Jennings began her career going 4-for-4 with three home runs and six RBI in a 29–0 victory. Jennings and Grace Turk each homered three times against the Miners, tying a school record for most home runs by an individual player in a game. The Sooners set an NCAA single-game record for home runs in a game with 13.[7][8] During the weekend at the Miner Invitational, she was 12-for-13, with five home runs, 12 RBIs, 30 total bases, eight extra-base hits, and a .983 batting average. She was subsequently named Big 12 Player of the Week for the week ending February 16, 2021.[9]
During the Courtyard Marriott Tournament, Jennings went 11-for-17, with a .647 batting average, four home runs, 10 RBIs and 23 total bases. Additionally, she did not register a strikeout all weekend and was perfect in the field, making appearances at second base, shortstop and third base, collecting seven assists and a pair of putouts. She was named Big 12 Player of the Week for the week ending March 9, earning her second weekly honor.[10] Jennings earned her third player of the week honor for the week ending April 7. She went 6-for-9, with six RBIs, 11 total bases, and her 16th home run of the season, in a series against Kansas.[11] Jennings earned her fourth player of the week honor for the week ending April 20. Jennings went 4-for-7, with three home runs, 13 total bases and five runs scored during a series against Texas.[12]
During her sophomore year in 2022, she batted .385 with 24 home runs, 72 RBIs, and a .882 slugging percentage. Her 24 home runs ranked for fourth in the nation, while her 72 RBIs tied for third in the NCAA. In the field, she had a .982 fielding percentage, with 14 double plays, 46 putouts and 63 assists to two errors. Following the season she was named a unanimous first-team All-American.[19]
