Jocelyn Erickson (born September 27, 2003) is an American

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 ...

player for the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni an ...

. She previously played for

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 ...

. She was named the NFCA National Player of the Year in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

High school career

Erickson attended Sandra Day O'Connor High School in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

, where she was a two-sport athlete playing both

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and

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) ...

. During her freshman year in 2019, she led the Eagles with 50 RBIs, while hitting .530 with 16 doubles and eight home runs to help lead her team to the 6A state championship. In January 2021, during the second basketball game of the season, she suffered a torn

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

and damaged her inside and outside meniscus while playing for the Eagles. As a result of her injury, she was sidelined for the 2021 season. During the 2022 season, in her senior year, she posted a .624

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 ...

with 25

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s, 10

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

s, 58

run batted in 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 ...

(RBI), 50

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted bal ...

and 28 walks, and led the Eagles to the Conference 6A state tournament. Following the season she was named Gatorade Arizona Softball Player of the Year, Arizona Republic All-State Team, 6A Conference Player of the Year and Desert Valley Region Player of the Year. She was ranked as the nation's No. 10 recruit in the Class of 2022 by Extra Inning Softball. On November 10, 2021, she signed her national letter of intent with

College career

Erickson began her collegiate career for Oklahoma in

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. During her freshman year she played in 57 games, with 32 starts at first base or designated player. She hit .337 with seven home runs, 11 doubles, 18 extra-base hits, 32 RBIs and helped Oklahoma win 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 ...

. Defensively she was perfect in the field, making 124

putout In baseball statistics, a putout (PO) is awarded to a defensive player who (generally while in secure possession of the ball) records an out by one of the following methods: * Tagging a runner with the ball when he is not touching a base (a tag ...

s. On February 18, 2023, in a game against Stephen F Austin, she tied a single-game program record with five hits, with two doubles, one home run and eight RBIs. It was the most RBIs by a Sooner since Lynnsie Elam had eight in a game against

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

on March 20, 2022. On June 26, 2023, Erickson entered the

NCAA transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool created to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member institutions. It is i ...

, less than three weeks after the national championship. On July 13, 2023, it was announced she would transfer to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. She wanted to be a full-time catcher and didn't want to wait another year behind fifth-year starter Kinzie Hansen. During her sophomore year in

, she had a .382 average, .494

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

, 1.189

on-base plus slugging On-base plus slugging (OPS) is a sabermetric baseball statistic calculated as the sum of a player's on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The ability of a player both to get on base and to hit for power, two important offensive skills, are ...

percentage, with 73 hits, 15 doubles, 15 home runs, 50 runs scored and 86 RBIs. Defensively she threw out 13 of the 19 runners trying to steal. Her 80 RBI are tied for the Florida single-season record along with Megan Bush and rank second nationally. Following the season she was named to the All-SEC First team and SEC All-Defensive Team and was named the SEC Player of the Year. She was also named Softball America Defensive Player of the Year, NFCA Catcher of the Year, NFCA National Player of the Year, NFCA First team All-American and a

Gold Glove Award The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual Fielding (baseball), fielding performances. It is awar ...

recipient.

Personal life

Erickson was born to David and Jeanine Erickson, and has four siblings, Krislyn, Brendon, Emilee and Kaylee. Brendon played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

at BYU, while Emilee and Kaylee played

at BYU.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erickson, Jocelyn 2003 births Living people Oklahoma Sooners softball players Florida Gators softball players Sportspeople from Phoenix, Arizona Softball players from Arizona Sandra Day O'Connor High School (Arizona) alumni 21st-century American sportswomen