Stepping to home plate with two outs in a scoreless first inning, all University of Florida sophomore catcher Jocelyn Erickson wanted to do was provide a spark for her team.
An opportunity came moments later with a South Alabama pitch right down the middle of the plate. The 19-year-old Latter-day Saint slugger, the 2024 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, swung and smashed the ball over the right field fence to give her team an early 2-0 lead.
Two innings later, Erickson hit an RBI single to ignite a 7-run rally that gave her Gators a 9-1 victory over the Jaguars in the championship round of the NCAA Tournament’s Gainesville Regional on May 19.
Florida will now host Baylor University in the NCAA Super Regional starting on Friday, May 24.
“We have a mission to go to the Women’s College World Series and ultimately compete for a national championship,” Erickson said. “So anything I can do for my team, I’ll do it.”
It’s been a season of game-winning plays for Erickson, a member of the Gainesville Young Single Adult Branch in the Gainesville Florida Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Along with being named the conference player of the year, the Phoenix, Arizona, native received All-SEC First Team honors and was named to the SEC All-Defensive Team. Erickson, who was raised in a family of softball players, finished the regular season with a .399 batting average, 11 home runs and 70 RBIs.
In April, she was selected to play for USA Softball in Japan this summer.
Following the win over South Alabama, Erickson was wearing a headset and being interviewed by ESPN in front of a nationwide audience when UF head coach Tim Walton approached from behind and dumped a small cooler of ice water down her back, much to the delight of the broadcasters.
“It was a hot day. ... She got me back later with a water bottle,” said Walton, who is “thankful every day” that Erickson is a Gator.
Erickson’s journey from top Arizona prep recruit to national champion at Oklahoma and transferring to Florida is a remarkable story she recently shared with the Church News.
“I think the only way you really grow is when you are outside your comfort zone,” she said. “So I took the leap of faith.”
Softball, family and faith
The youngest of five children, Erickson was raised in a faithful Latter-day Saint home in Phoenix where the gospel was central.
“Growing up in the Church has blessed my life in a lot of different ways. It has helped me to see the world with a different perspective, especially in a sport where you fail more than you succeed,” she said. “I’m glad my parents raised me to know there is something bigger than myself.”
It was also a home where everyone played multiple sports, although they clearly favored the “diamond sport.”
Her parents, David and Jeanine Erickson, and her four siblings — Krislyn, Brendon, Emilee and Kaylee — all attended Brigham Young University. Brendon played baseball for the Cougars (2013-2015), and sisters Emilee (2016-2021) and Kaylee (2020-2021) both played BYU softball. After serving a mission in Boise, Idaho, Kaylee transferred to Utah State. Following her playing days, Emilee became an assistant coach at Weber State.
The youngest sister said she “followed in their footsteps and fell in love with the game.”
“There was no pressure, but I grew up going to the ball field because my sisters played all the time,” Jocelyn Erickson said. “We’re all catchers, too.”
Following her sisters had its advantages. Because they had been through the recruiting process, her parents knew which teams and tournaments she needed to play in to attract college recruiters. Jocelyn Erickson quickly excelled, and recruiters started talking to her when she was in sixth grade. Her first scholarship offer came from BYU in seventh grade.
At that time, there were no restrictions for early commitment. The rule was changed in 2018. Players now can’t commit until their junior year of high school.
At the end of her high school career, Erickson was named the 2022 Arizona Gatorade Softball Player of the Year. She chose to play for Oklahoma over Oregon, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State and BYU. At that time, the Oklahoma Sooners had just won their second straight national title.
National champion with ‘more to offer’
As a freshman, Erickson joined an Oklahoma softball team that was loaded with talent, still finding opportunities to contribute.
She competed in 57 games, with 32 starts at multiple positions, and batted .337 with 32 RBIs, 25 runs scored and 18 extra-base hits. She even posted a 10-game hit streak that included an eight-RBI, 5-for-5 performance against Stephen F. Austin that tied the OU single game record for hits.
The pinnacle came when the Sooners won their third straight national championship, capping a season that saw them go an incredible 61-1, including an NCAA Division I record 53-game win streak.
Two days before winning the title, members of the team were asked in a press conference how they keep the joy of the game as pressure to win keeps mounting. Their comments, which focused on their faith in Christ, went viral, the Deseret News reported.
Erickson appreciated her freshman season at Oklahoma and said it was “surreal” to be part of a national championship team. She acknowledged the many friendships and life lessons gained along the way. But in her heart she felt the need for something different.
“I knew I had more to offer,” she said. “I knew my capabilities and goals and felt I could be used more.”
Much prayer and reading her patriarchal blessing helped Erickson to find spiritual guidance and see where she could make a difference for the Lord.
Home in Florida
Unbeknownst to Erickson, Florida coach Tim Walton had watched her play from a distance for three years and knew she could play. He also knew about her Latter-day Saint faith and what it meant to her. He immediately reached out when he learned she had entered the transfer portal.
When Erickson expressed interest in playing for the Gators, Walton found and connected with local Church members at the Gainesville Florida Institute of Religion. When Erickson and her father visited campus, the coach arranged an introduction.
“They gave me my first Book of Mormon as a thank you,” said Walton, who mentioned visiting Temple Square in Utah several years ago with his family and having a positive experience.
Erickson felt Florida was where she needed to be. The result has been “more than I could have ever hoped,” she said.
“I knew there were lessons I was supposed to learn and people I was supposed to meet and share my knowledge with at UF.”
Along with Erickson’s “dependable, reliable, competitive” contributions on the field this season — “she has been instrumental in our success” — Walton also commended her maturity, focus and love of team. He even noted how she refrains from using profanity.
“I don’t think she ever wavers from who she is — a strong kid, very motivated, very dedicated, and family is first for her,” he said.
Amid her busy softball schedule, Erickson does her best to attend weekly institute classes and Church meetings. She has a routine for personal prayer and scripture study, and lists some of her favorite verses — Ether 12:27 and 1 Timothy 6:11-12 — on her Instagram and X (formerly known as Twitter) accounts.
She has also befriended a trio of Latter-day Saint UF soccer players who also attend the YSA branch: Daviana Vaka, Sophie White and Oakley Rasmussen.
Adam Towers, who serves as president of the Gainesville YSA Branch, said he refers to Jocelyn as “Sister Clutch” for how she always delivers in pressure-packed game moments. He is equally impressed by her dedication to the gospel and her contributions to the YSA’s JustServe committee.
“When playing on the road around the country, she even logs into our Zoom YSA sacrament meeting,” Towers said. “Everyone I talk to who is connected to the UF athletic program praises her for the way she carries herself on the field and in the locker room. While there are few as fiercely competitive as she is, she simply goes about doing good, being kind, being supportive, being a team player and never letting her ego get in the way. She carries herself as a disciple of Christ in all things.”
