Keilani Johanna Ricketts Tumanuvao (born September 1, 1991) is an American professional

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

player for the Blaze of the

Athletes Unlimited Softball League The Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) is a women's professional softball league in the United States, founded in 2024 and run by Athletes Unlimited. History On June 4, 2024, Athletes Unlimited announced a new softball league, that w ...

(AUSL). She played pitcher for the

Oklahoma City Spark Association of Fastpitch Professionals (AFP) is a professional women's fastpitch softball league in the United States consisting of independent teams in collaboration to create a platform for competition at the highest level. The new league began ...

. She played

college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is normally played by women at the Intercollegiate level, whereas college baseball is nor ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

from 2010 to 2013, where she was the starting pitcher and helped to lead the Sooners to the

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

. As a member of the

United States women's national softball team The United States women's national softball team is the national softball team of the United States. It is governed by USA Softball (formerly known as the Amateur S ...

she won 2011 World Cup of Softball. Ricketts currently plays for the

USSSA Pride The USSSA Pride is a professional softball team based in Viera, Florida, and a former member of Women's Professional Fastpitch (WPF). Founded in 2009, they previously played in National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) from 2009 to 2019. They play their home ...

in the

National Pro Fastpitch National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), formerly the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL), was a professional women's softball league in the United States. The teams battled for the Cowles Cup. The WPSL was founded in 1997 and folded in 2001; the NPF revive ...

. She is the Sooners career leader in wins and

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

. She also ranks for career records in both the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

and the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Division I, where she is one three players to win 100 games with 1,000 strikeouts and hit 50

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

Career

Oklahoma Sooners

Ricketts debuted on February 10, 2010 tossing three scoreless innings to beat the

Florida Atlantic Owls The Florida Atlantic Owls are the athletics teams of Florida Atlantic University. The Owls participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)'s Division I as members of the American Athletic Conference. On October 21, 2021, Flori ...

. She was named Second-Team National Fastpitch Coaches' Association All-American along with First-Team All-

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

honors. As a freshman, she would break the record for strikeout ratio and then rank second for strikeouts overall at the school. Ricketts would lead the team into a Super Regional with the

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) N ...

and opened the series by beating National Player of The Year

Danielle Lawrie Danielle Elaine Lawrie (born April 11, 1987) is a Canadian, former collegiate All-American, medal-winning Olympian, professional All-Star softball pitcher and current sports commentator. Lawrie played college softball at Washington, in which s ...

before dropping the next two to be eliminated that year. In her sophomore year, Ricketts would be named a First-Team All-American and earned her second conference honors. Ricketts would break her own and set the school record for strikeout ratio with a career best 11.1 per 7-innings. She also broke the school strikeouts record, which now ranks second all-time. On April 16, 2011, Ricketts lost a 9-inning contest vs. the

Missouri Tigers The Missouri Tigers intercollegiate athletics programs represent the University of Missouri, located in Columbia. The name comes from a band of armed Union Home Guards called the "Fighting Tigers of Columbia" who, in 1864, protected Columbia ...

and combined with Tiger pitcher

Chelsea Thomas Chelsea Rae Thomas (born January 26, 1990) is an American former collegiate softball pitcher, originally from Pleasantville, Iowa. Thomas pitched for the Missouri Tigers in the Big 12 Conference and Southeastern Conference; Thomas is the career ...

to record 33 strikeouts, an NCAA top-10 record. In the NCAA tournament, the Sooners opened up that year against the

Iona Gaels The Iona Gaels are the athletics teams of Iona University, in New Rochelle, New York. They compete in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and participate in 21 NCAA Division I programs. Varsity athletic programs Men's basketball ...

and Ricketts set a career and school high with 19 strikeouts in regulation, winning 7-1 on May 20. The Sooners made the

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States and is held annually in Oklahoma City, OK. The event is held at Devon Park (stadium), Devon Park loca ...

that year by defeating the

Arizona Wildcats The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...

but did not win a game. As a junior, Ricketts again earned First-Team honors from both the NFCA and the conference, this time being named 2012 Big 12 Conference Player of the Year while also achieving a pitching Triple Crown. She was also chosen

USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year is an award given by USA Softball to the best college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United St ...

and recognized with the

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in t ...

for softball. She would break her own strikeout record with a career and school best total, while her career high in wins ranks second all-time for the Sooners; Ricketts also had her best

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

and

WHIP A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

. Ricketts would also lead the team in

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

and doubles with career highs, which she also tallied in

RBIs A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

and

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...

. Ricketts fired a

perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New Yo ...

over the

Kansas Jayhawks The Kansas Jayhawks, commonly referred to as simply KU or Kansas, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Kansas. KU is one of three schools List of college athletic programs in Kansas, in the state of Kansas that participate in ...

on March 30 and struck out 10 batters to cross the 1,000 career benchmark, becoming one of the elite to reach that milestone in three seasons. On May 19, Ricketts hit a grand slam to help reach a career high with 6 RBIs vs. the

Lehigh Mountain Hawks The Lehigh Mountain Hawks are the college athletics, athletic teams representing Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The Hawks participate in NCAA Division I competition as a member of the Patriot League. In football, Lehigh competes in ...

. At that year's WCWS on June 1, for her second game Ricketts pitched a 16-strikeout, 2 hit shutout over the No.1

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

. The Sooners would go on to defeat the defending champs to meet the

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the Na ...

in the championship final. Ricketts won game one but then lost back-to-back games to drop the series. Ricketts would be named All-Tournament for her performance, tying the third best record for WCWS strikeouts with 64. For a final season, Ricketts claimed her fourth First Team all-conference and third First-Team and fourth overall All-American honors, simultaneously winning Big 12 Pitcher of the Year. She would also earn her second USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year and Honda Sports Award for softball to accompany the Honda Cup Award. Ricketts had a career best in

shutouts In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

and winning percentage with a near perfect season while also throwing 6 no-hitters, a top-5 NCAA record for a single season. February 9, 2013 she won her 100th game, no-hitting the

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon, Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCA ...

. Beginning on March 27-June 3, she had a career best 21 game win streak. Ricketts led her team to a No. 1 seed and culminated in winning the National Championship by besting the

Tennessee Lady Vols The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Colleg ...

in a 12-inning game one and then driving in all the runs, three of them the winning runs coming via her 50th career home run off Ivy Renfroe, in game two to seal the title. This would give her the Most Outstanding Player Award and her second All-Tournament recognition. Ricketts would also become one of the most prolific and winning pitchers in WCWS history going 8-4 with 112 strikeouts and allowing 19 earned runs in 80.1 inning for a 1.00 WHIP in three trips. For her career she holds the school records in wins, strikeouts, shutouts, innings pitched and strikeout ratio. In the Big 12 she ranks second in career wins, strikeouts and shutouts, third in strikeout ratio, fourth in innings and 7th in ERA; offensively she stands third in walks, fifth in home runs and 10th in slugging percentage. In all of the NCAA she is 7th in wins all-time.

Athletes Unlimited

On January 29, 2025, Ricketts was drafted twenty first overall by the Blaze in the inaugural

draft.

Personal life

Ricketts is of

Samoan Samoan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Samoan Islands, an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean ** Something of, from, or related to Samoa, a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands ** Something of, from, ...

descent. She has three siblings that include Richard, a former

Air Force Falcons football The Air Force Falcons football program represents the United States Air Force Academy in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) level. Air Force has been a member of the Mountain West Conference s ...

player, Stephanie, a former All-American

Hawaii Rainbow Wahine softball The Hawaiʻi Rainbow Wāhine softball team represents the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in NCAA Division I college softball. The team participates in the Big West Conference (BWC). The Rainbow Wahine are currently led by head coach Panita Th ...

player, and Samantha, a former All-American

Oklahoma Sooners softball The Oklahoma Sooners softball team represents the University of Oklahoma in NCAA Division I college softball. The team competes in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and plays its home games at Love's Field in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners are cu ...

player and current Head Softball Coach for Mississippi State University. In December 2017, Ricketts married Sean Tumanuvao in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

Awards and honors

* 2012—Winner of the

for softball * 2012—Winner of the

* 2013—Winner of the Honda Sports Award for softball * 2013—Winner of the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year * 2013—Premier Player of College Softball as voted by the fans * 2013—The

Honda-Broderick Cup The Honda-Broderick Cup is a sports award for college-level female athletes. The awards are voted on by a national panel of more than 1000 collegiate athletic directors. It was first presented by Tom Broderick, an American owner of a women's sports ...

winner for all sports. * 2017

All-Star

Statistics

References

External links

Keilani Ricketts
at

USA Softball USA Softball (formerly the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) and ASA/USA Softball) is the national governing body for the sport of softball in the United States, including the United States women's national softball team, United States national ...

archive March 27, 2012
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ricketts, Keilani 1991 births Living people American softball players American sportspeople of Samoan descent Oklahoma Sooners softball players Oklahoma City Spark players USSSA Pride players Softball players from California Sportspeople from San Jose, California Softball players at the 2011 Pan American Games Softball players at the 2019 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in softball Women's College World Series Most Outstanding Player Award winners Archbishop Mitty High School alumni Athletes Unlimited softball players