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Why did Jocelyn Erickson transfer from Oklahoma to Florida? Explaining SEC Player of Year's choice

ehsan kassim, usa today network
·4 min read

Following a down season for Florida softball, which saw it fall in the Stanford Regional, coach Tim Walton hit the transfer portal hard to re-tool his team.

The re-tooling has been a success, with the Gators sitting as the No. 4 overall seed and hosting the Gainesville Super Regional against Baylor this weekend. The biggest hit of the offseason was the addition of former Oklahoma utility player Jocelyn Erickson.

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The 5-foot-9 star has taken over the catching duties for the Gators and has been a force. Erickson won the SEC Player of the Year honors after hitting a .391 batting average, .493 on-base percentage, 1.189 OPS, 13 home runs and 78 RBI in 61 games played and 221 plate appearances. Erickson won the award one year after Skylar Wallace won the honors.

Erickson hit a two-run home run in the first inning of a 9-1 victory over South Alabama in the Gainesville Regional to help the Gators advance to the super regionals. For her part, Erickson has felt confident about what she could do with the Gators, bringing her championship experience.

“From the beginning of the season, I was telling everyone in the locker room we were going to the [College] World Series,” Erickson said following the Gainesville Regional. “That’s the plan.”

Here's what you need to know about why Erickson transferred to Florida after helping Oklahoma win a third straight national championship:

Why did Jocelyn Erickson transfer to Florida from Oklahoma?

Erickson played in 57 games, including 32 starts at multiple positions for the 2023 Oklahoma team, which won their third straight national championship. She batted .337 with seven home runs, 32 RBI, 25 runs scored and 18 extra-base hits. She had a 10-game hitting streak, which included a 5-for-5 performance with eight RBI in a game against Stephen F. Austin. The five hits tied the single-game record for hits for OU.

However, after the season, she entered the transfer portal on June 26, less than three weeks after the national championship. She joined two-time All-American pitcher Jordy Bahl and catcher/utility Sophia Nugent as players to transfer out.

“I knew I had more to offer,” Erickson said to Church News in a recent interview. “I knew my capabilities and goals and felt I could be used more.”

On July 13, she committed to Florida.

“I’m thankful every day that she’s a Gator,” Walton said of Erickson after she hammered a two-run home run on Sunday.

Jocelyn Erickson high school

As an eighth-grader, Erickson committed to Oklahoma over offers from Oregon, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State, and BYU. In January 2020, during the second game of her high school basketball season, Erickson tore her ACL playing basketball, causing her to miss the softball season at Sandra Day O’Connor High School in Phoenix.

As a senior, Erickson was named the 2022 Arizona Gatorade Softball Player of the Year after hitting for a .624 batting average with 25 home runs and 58 runs batted in this past season. She the Eagles (22-11) to the Conference 6A state tournament. She also added 10 doubles, 50 runs scored and 28 walks. Defensively, she threw out 4-of-8 would-be base stealers and picked off five runners at first base.

Erickson was ranked as the nation’s No. 10 recruit in the Class of 2022 by Extra Inning Softball.

Jocelyn Erickson stats

Here are Jocelyn Erickson's year-by-year stats at Oklahoma and at Florida:

  • 2023 (Oklahoma): .337 batting average, .395 on-base percentage, 1.039 OPS, 7 home runs, 32 RBI, 53 games played, 114 plate appearances

  • 2024 (Florida): .391 batting average, .493 on-base percentage, 1.189 OPS, 13 home runs, 78 RBI, 61 games played, 221 plate appearances

  • Career (2 seasons): .371 batting average, .460 on-base percentage, 1.136 OPS, 20 home runs, 110 RBI, 114 games played, 335 plate appearances

Florida players to win SEC Player of the Year honors

Florida players have won the SEC Player of the Year honors eight times since the start of the league in 1998. With Wallace winning the honors last year and Erickson this year, they become the second set of UF players to win the honors in back-to-back years. Erickson is the first catcher since Kristen Butler in 2006 to win the honors for UF.

Here's a list of the Florida Gators to win the SEC Player of the Year honors:

  • 1998: Chelsea Sakizzie, Pitcher

  • 2006: Kristen Butler, Catcher

  • 2011: Kelsey Bruder, Outfielder

  • 2012: Michelle Moultrie, Outfielder

  • 2015: Kelsey Stewart, Third baseman

  • 2018: Amanda Lorenz, Outfielder

  • 2023: Skylar Wallace, Shortstop

  • 2024: Jocelyn Erickson, Catcher

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Why did Jocelyn Erickson transfer from Oklahoma? Florida commitment, explained