Tag: Jocelyn Erickson

Florida’s Tim Walton named D1Softball’s 2024 Coach of the Year

Florida softball’s magical 2024 season ends with head coach Tim Walton taking home the D1Softball Coach of the Year Award.

D1Softball named Florida head coach [autotag]Tim Walton[/autotag] the 2024 Coach of the Year Award on Monday, following a deep run in the Women’s College World Series that ended a win away from reaching the finals.

Although many were upset to see Oklahoma head coach Patty Grasso miss out on the award following a fourth-straight national championship, D1Softball argues that Florida’s transformation over the past year under Walton was more impressive.

Two seasons ago, Florida only had 38 wins. In 2023, they finished with an 11-13 record against the rest of the SEC and were knocked out of the playoffs relatively early in the Stanford Regional.

Walton made a few key additions from the transfer portal — [autotag]Jocelyn Erickson[/autotag] and [autotag]Korbe Otis[/autotag] — to an already strong freshman class, and Florida went 54-15 (17-7) in 2024. Whether the team building or the actual coaching mattered more is inconsequential. That big of a jump forward deserves some recognition.

Florida is pushing forward at full steam, too. Walton has remained active in the transfer portal this offseason to replace a six-woman senior class, including Gators great Skylar Wallace.

Through 19 seasons as Florida’s head coach, Walton has won 980 games with an 81% win rate.

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Florida softball’s Jocelyn Erickson is NFCA Division I Player of the Year

Despite losing to the eventual national champions, the Gators can still boast the best player in collegiate softball for the second-straight year.

The TUCCI/National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division I Player of the Year award recipient was announced on Friday morning, and for the second straight season, a member of the Florida Gators softball program earned the prestigious honor.

Sophomore catcher [autotag]Jocelyn Erickson[/autotag] was tapped for the distinguished distinction after turning in one of the best individual performances at her position in program history. The southpaw set a new single-season record for RBI (86), surpassing previous record holder Megan Bush’s mark of 80 in 2011; the pair are the only two Gators to have recorded 80 or more RBI in a year.

Erickson finished the year with a .382 (73-for-191) average at the plate with 15 doubles, 15 home runs, 50 runs scored and 50 walks in addition to being 10-for-10 on stolen base attempts. She also finished third in program history with seven sacrifice flies, lagging behind Bush’s nine in 2011 and [autotag]Charla Echols[/autotag] 10 in 2022.

Her defensive prowess behind the plate also enabled her to record a new school single-season record for the lowest stolen base percentage against. Erickson’s sparkling mark of .316 resulted from throwing out 13 of the 19 runners attempting to steal on her this season.

[autotag]Skylar Wallace[/autotag] collected the award last season after finishing as the only player in the nation with 65 or more hits, 70 or more runs, 55 or more RBI, 50 or more walks and 30 or more stolen bases. She had one of the best individual seasons in Florida history as she set new single-season school records in batting average (.447), slugging percentage (.980) and on-base percentage (.595).

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Florida softball’s WCWS ends in extras against No. 2 Oklahoma

Florida softball’s magical 2024 season has ended in heartbreak as the Oklahoma Sooners completed a comeback bid in extra innings to advance to the Women’s College World Series Finals.

Florida was four outs away from its first Women’s College World Series Finals appearance since 2017, but the three-time national champion Oklahoma Sooners completed a 6-5 comeback in extra innings to end the Gators’ season in heartbreaking fashion.

Jayda Coleman delivered the knockout blowout, homering to left. Florida left fielder [autotag]Korbe Otis[/autotag] got to the wall in time and leaped, but the ball was just beyond her reach.

Coleman’s blast was one of six on the day, three of which came from the Orange and Blue. [autotag]Jocelyn Erickson[/autotag] opened up the scoring with a two-run home run in the first, followed by Ariel Kowalewski’s two-run shot in the second.

[autotag]Reagan Walsh[/autotag] drove in the final run of the season for Florida with a solo shot to left in the third. Spirits were high. The Gators had a solid lead with their ace on the mound, but the Sooners kept chipping away at the three-run deficit.

Cydney Sanders homered in the fourth to cut the lead back down to one, and a two-out double in the sixth from Ella Parker ultimately forced extras.

It’s hard to fault Florida’s pitcher, Keagan Rothrock, even though she gave up a walk-off home run to end the season. Rothrock threw 154 pitches in her final outing as a freshman, striking out three and walking five.

The future is bright for Florida with most of the team set to return in 2025, but this is the end of the road for seniors Baylee Goddard, Avery Goelz, Katie Kistler, [autotag]Skylar Wallace[/autotag], Emily Wilkie and Mackenzie Wooten.

Wallace will go down as one of the best to ever wear the Orange and Blue after three straight All-American seasons. She holds several program records.

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Highlights from Florida softball’s win over Alabama in WCWS

Here’s a quick look at a few highlights from Florida’s WCWS win over Alabama on Sunday night.

Florida softball scored a huge win in the Women’s College World Series on Sunday with a 6-4 victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Catcher [autotag]Jocelyn Erickson[/autotag] had four RBI thanks in large part to a three-run homer. Designated player [autotag]Reagan Walsh[/autotag] had two RBI and left fielder Korbe Otis reached base four times while crossing the place thrice.

Pitcher [autotag]Keagan Rothrock[/autotag] needed all the support she could get against the Tide. After getting rocked in the last game, the freshman hurler turned in a complete-game performance sufficient for the Gators to move on; it was Rothcock’s 12th consecutive start and eighth complete postseason performance.

Take a look below at a handful of highlights from the Gators’ win over the Tide Sunday evening.

Florida softball routs South Alabama, advance to NCAA Super Regionals

The Gators have won six straight postseason games and 11 straight overall heading into the Super Regionals.

Florida softball punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament Super Regionals on Sunday with a 9-1 victory in five innings over the South Alabama Jaguars inside Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. It was the second-straight five-inning 9-1 win over USA for the Gators in as many days, following a 6-0 win over the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles on Friday.

[autotag]Jocelyn Erickson[/autotag] had three RBI — including a two-run homer in the first inning. The rest of UF’s offensive production came in the third inning when the team combined for seven runs to all but seal the deal.

[autotag]Keagan Rothrock[/autotag], who dominated in the regional’s first two victories, took the start in the circle and tossed two shutout innings before giving way to [autotag]Ava Brown[/autotag] with a 9-0 lead to start the third. Brown did cough up a run but otherwise turned in a dominant performance over three frames.

The victory was UF’s 11th straight overall and six straight in postseason play going back to the Southeastern Conference Tournament. The latter ties the Gators for their sixth-longest streak of the sort in program history.

“Congratulations to South Alabama and obviously the great games they had last night, yesterday and their season,” UF head coach Tim Walton offered in his postgame talk.

“Olivia Lackie obviously had a really, really outstanding career. And thanks to our fans, the fans did a great job coming out supporting us, and now we need you guys again next weekend. So whatever day — Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, whatever it works out to be — looking forward to getting out here and being loud and getting us to the College World Series.”

The Gators next face the Baylor Bears in the NCAA Super Regional held on Florida’s home field in Gainesville. The three-game series starts on Friday, May 24 with first pitch slated for noon ET.

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Florida softball moves on to SEC Tournament semifinal round

The Gators will play the winner of the South Carolina Gamecocks and Texas A&M Aggies matchup later next.

Florida’s softball program advanced to the Southeastern Conference Tournament Semifinals on Friday afternoon with a victory over the Georgia Bulldogs at Jane B. Moore Field in Auburn, Alabama.

The second-seeded Gators (44-12) prevailed, 9-4, quarterfinals over the seventh-seeded ‘Dawgs (39-16) to keep their SEC title hopes alive. The two teams erupted for a combined six home runs, with three coming from three UF’s [autotag]Skylar Wallace[/autotag], [autotag]Jocelyn Erickson[/autotag] and [autotag]Emily Wilkie[/autotag].

SEC Freshman of the Year winner, pitcher [autotag]Keagan Rothrock[/autotag] (24-6), took the ball in the circle to start for Florida and held UGA scoreless for 5 1/3 innings. Back-to-back hits with one out tied the game 2-2, but the Gators came storming back in the next innings.

The Orange and Blue grabbed a 6-2 lead after the fifth inning on a rally that began with a hit-by-pitch and a walk. Wallace drove in her third run of the game with a drive off the left-field wall for an RBI single on a full count, followed by Erickson’s 12th home run of the season over the right-field wall that scored three more for the Gators.

The Bulldogs bounced back to cut into the lead with back-to-back solo home runs in the top of the sixth. But those would be the last runs they could muster.

Florida extended its lead to 9-4 with a three-run frame in the bottom of the sixth inning, and from there as they say, that is all she wrote. Georgia attempted to rally and loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the seventh, but reliever [autotag]Ava Brown[/autotag] settled in and retired the heart of the UGA lineup in order for her second save of the spring.

Florida will play the winner of the South Carolina Gamecocks and Texas A&M Aggies following the conclusion of the LSU Tigers and Missouri Tigers semifinal game on ESPN2 later on Friday.

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Pair of Gators softball players named player of the year finalists

These two Gators are repping the Orange and Blue in the softball realm this season.

The 2024 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year top-26 finalists were announced early on Wednesday afternoon, with a pair of members of the Florida Gators getting the nod for the prestigious honor.

Sophomore [autotag]Jocelyn Erickson[/autotag] and junior [autotag]Korbe Otis[/autotag] were the two members of the Orange and Blue who made the cut after playing all 51 games this season so far. Their team currently holds a 40-12 record overall with a 14-7 mark in Southeastern Conference play, ranked No. 9 in the ESPN/USA Softball poll and No. 12 in D1Softball’s tally.

Otis leads Florida with a .440 batting average out of the left field position, giving her the best mark in the SEC and 13th in the nation overall. The Littleton, Colorado, native also ranks third in the conference in runs scored (55) and hits (59) holds top 10 ranks in RBI (40, 9th), triples (3, 8th) and leads the league in walks (44); Otis’ .576 on-base percentage is the best in the nation.

Erickson has proven to be one of the best defensive catchers in the business this season, throwing out 11 of the 15 runners who have attempted to steal a base on her. The Phoenix, Arizona, native also has some pop with the bat, putting up a .398 batting average along with a league-leading 64 RBI — good for sixth-best in the country.

The Top 25 Finalists will be narrowed down to 10 athletes on May 15, followed by the Top 3 Finalists set to be released on May 20. The 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be revealed before the Women’s College World Series, which is scheduled to take place from May 30 to June 7 at the Softball Capital of the World.

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Oklahoma’s Jocelyn Erickson enters the transfer portal

Oklahoma Softball’s Jocelyn Erickson enters the transfer portal per report.

Since the end of the 2023 season, the Oklahoma Sooners have had several departures via graduation and the transfer portal. None were bigger than Jordy Bahl’s relocation back to her home state of Nebraska. Another significant transfer portal entry occurred Monday: [autotag]Jocelyn Erickson[/autotag].

According to D1Softball’s Brady Vernon, Erickson is in the portal after spending one year with the Sooners.

As a true freshman, Erickson saw a great deal of playing time early in the season for the Oklahoma Sooners, especially while [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag] and [autotag]Grace Lyons[/autotag] were sidelined.

In her lone season, Erickson appeared in 57 games and registered 32 starts. She hit .337 with seven home runs and 32 RBIs. Erickson was hitting .371 entering the NCAA Tournament but went 2-for-11 in the postseason.

With the losses Oklahoma had suffered this offseason, there was a chance Erickson would have seen some time in the designated player role while continuing to back up Kinzie Hansen at catcher.

Instead, Erickson follows Bahl and [autotag]Sophia Nugent[/autotag] into the portal. Bahl landed with the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Nugent with the Tennessee Volunteers.

Erickson was the No. 10 player in the nation according to Extra Inning Softball and the No. 7 player in the 2022 class according to Max Preps. She was a first-team All-American and the Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year in 2022.

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Oklahoma Sooners advance to super regionals with 16-3 win over Cal

The Oklahoma Sooners advance to the super regional round of the NCAA tournament after a 16-3 win over California.

Oklahoma’s offense got going right out of the gate and didn’t look back as they dominated the California Golden Bears 16-3 in five innings. The Sooners hit six home runs in the game, extending their winning streak to 46 games.

[autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] got the scoring going in the first inning when she launched a homer to make it 1-0. [autotag]Haley Lee[/autotag] doubled, and [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag] hit a home run to put Oklahoma up 3-0. [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag] singled, and [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] smashed a home run to extend the lead to 5-0. Jocelyn Erickson went back-to-back with Sanders with a solo shot to put the Sooners up 6-0 in the top of the first.

Jennings hit her second home run of the day in the top of the second to give the Sooners a 7-0 lead.

They kept the scoring going in the third inning. Rylie Boone brought in Hansen on an RBI single to make it 8-0 and put Oklahoma in run-rule territory. Coleman doubled to score Grace Lyons on an RBI, which made it 9-0. Jennings drove a double of her own to score Boone and Coleman and put the Sooners well out in front 11-0. Not to be outdone by Tiare Jennings, Alyssa Brito hammered her second home run of the day, a three-run shot to give Oklahoma a 14-0 lead after three.

Cal scored three runs on three hits in the third after loading the bases. Alex Storako wasn’t her sharp self, and Nicole May came in to limit the damage.

In the fourth inning, Grace Lyons hit a sacrifice fly that brought home Alynah Torres to make the score 15-3. Quincee Lilio then singled to right center and to score Jocelyn Erickson to extend the lead 16-3.

May was able to get the shutdown inning in the fourth inning before giving way to Kierston Deal who pitched a scoreless fifth.

Storako allowed five hits and three runs in 2.2 innings pitched. May and Deal combined to throw three innings of perfect ball, keeping the Golden Bears off the base paths once May entered the game.

Tiare Jennings went 4-for-4 with two home runs, four RBIs, and three runs scored. Brito was 2-for-3 with a pair of home runs and five RBIs. Haley Lee, Kinzie Hansen, and Jocelyn Erickson each had multi-hit games for the Sooners.

Oklahoma will now welcome Clemson for their three-game series in the super regional after the Tigers beat Auburn in a winner-take-all game Sunday afternoon. The Sooners’ 13 straight super regional appearances is the longest own the longest streak in the nation

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Oklahoma Sooners beat Oklahoma State Cowgirls 4-2 in comeback fashion

Oklahoma Sooners picked up their 40th consecutive win with four runs in the top of the seventh for a 4-2 win over Oklahoma State.

Oklahoma won game two of their three-game series against No.7/6 Oklahoma State 4-2 with three with four runs in the top of the seventh to improve to 48-1 on the season and 17-0 against the Big 12.

Oklahoma struggled most of the day on offense, with only three hits through the first six innings against Oklahoma State freshman pitcher Kyra Aycock. The Sooners then went to work in their final at-bat.

Oklahoma State lead 2-0 heading into the seventh after picking up an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth off of starter [autotag]Nicole May[/autotag].

[autotag]Jocelyn Erickson[/autotag] doubled to lead off the inning, and [autotag]Alynah Torres[/autotag] followed that with a single to drive in pinch runner [autotag]Jordy Bahl[/autotag] from second.

Oklahoma State brought in the ace of their staff [autotag]Kelly Maxwell[/autotag], but it didn’t seem to make a difference. Rylie Boone drew a hit by pitch to put runners on first and second with nobody out. Maxwell was able to strikeout [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] to put pressure back on the Sooners, but after a wild pitch moved Torres on third and Boone on second, [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag] stepped up and blasted a two-run double to left center to put Oklahoma up 3-2.

“You can never count the Sooners out,” said Jennings after the game. “So much joy, so much fun playing. You can see that. We knew we were never out of this game, no matter what the score was, no matter what the inning was. We just knew in the dugout that we were gonna keep smiling, keep cheering and keep having fun.”

Cydney Sanders put the final dent in the score with an RBI single to make it 4-2. Maxwell walked [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag], and Aycock came back in for Oklahoma State. She gave up a single to [autotag]Grace Lyons[/autotag] but then forced Haley Lee to pop out to end the threat.

Then it was time for freshman [autotag]Kierston Deal[/autotag] to shine.

After coming in to record the final out of the sixth inning in relief of Nicole May, Deal retired the Cowgirls in order in the bottom of the seventh to seal the come-from-behind win for the Oklahoma Sooners. She retired all four batters she faced, striking out two Oklahoma State batters in the process to move to 2-0 on the season. With the effort, Deal’s ERA is now 0.95 on the season.

“This team knows as long as they have one out left in a game, they’re never out of it,” Gasso said after the win. “You could feel that momentum come. They will not be denied. They believe in each other. They are unafraid of losing, and that’s a big deal.”

Nicole May battled for 5.2 innings, allowing eight hits, two runs, a walk, and striking out four. May didn’t factor into the decision but kept the Cowgirls from creating big innings with some clutch pitching.

The Oklahoma Sooners moved to 48-1 and 17-0 in Big 12 play on the season and have now won 40 games in a row, surpassing their 39-game winning streak from a year ago. The Sooners and Cowgirls will play the final game of the series and the regular season on Sunday afternoon at 2 pm CT in Stillwater. The game can be viewed on ESPN+.

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