OKLAHOMA CITY --- Former University of St. Francis head softball coach and current director of athletic communications Amanda Jensen was recognized as part of the National Softball Hall of Fame Class of 2026 on Saturday night at the Oklahoma City Convention Center.

Jensen was inducted as part of the Raybestos/Stratford Brakettes organization, which is widely regarded as one of the most successful and influential teams in the history of amateur softball with over 4,000 victories in close to eight decades.  

Following an illustrious four-year playing career at Olivet Nazarene University, where she was a First Team NAIA All-American shortstop and NCCAA National Player of the Year in 2003, Jensen was the 12th overall pick in the 32-player Elite Draft of the National Pro Fastpitch League.  She played for the Brakettes for two seasons (2004-2005) before signing a two-year contract in 2006 to play for the Michigan Ice professional fastpitch organization.

While with the Brakettes, Jensen helped the club capture the 2004 Women's Major Softball Championship with teammate Jen Pawol (Major League Baseball's first female umpire) scoring the game-winning run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning of a 1-0 game.  Jensen singled Pawol into scoring position in the previous at-bat. 

The next year in 2005, Jensen garnered First Team All-America honors after helping the Brakettes to a runner-up finish at the Women's Major Championship.  During her two years with the team, the Brakettes authored a 101-21 overall record.

In her 12 seasons directing the St. Francis program, Jensen compiled an overall record of 349-170 (.673) and a conference mark of 169-65 (.722) with both winning percentages ranking as the top marks amongst the eight head coaches in the 47-year history of the softball program.  A three-time Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) Coach of the Year, she guided her teams to four regular-season conference titles, two league tournament championships and five NAIA National Tournament appearances.