DATE: May 15, 2019
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, MAY 15, 2019 – Years after Ken Eriksen discovered star sophomore Georgina Corrick by chance, USF softball continues to reap the benefits of having a world-class talent in the circle.
The two-time American Pitcher of the Year ranks third nationally this season in earned run average (.90), 16th in strikeouts (241) and she’s tied for the seventh-most shutouts (11) in the country heading into USF’s Tallahassee Regional run that begins Friday at noon against No. 21 South Carolina (TV: SEC Network).
“We’re lucky,” Eriksen said.
The winningest coach in USF Athletics history certainly struck recruiting gold years ago when he first saw the “big blonde on the hill” who was facing a “really, really good team.” Eriksen actually attended the game because he had other players on his radar.
“She was incredible at that point in her career,” he said.
Eriksen thought Corrick was a senior at the time because of her composure during the game. In all actuality, she was just beginning her high school career.
“I went over to their coach after the game and I went, ‘Hey, man, that was a pretty impressive game by your big pitcher. Where is she going to school?,'” Eriksen said. “He says, ‘George is just a freshman.”
Eriksen now gets to smile about his big recruiting catch who is listed at 6 feet and has been mowing down opposing batters ever since she put on a USF uniform.
A finalist for the USA Softball Player of the Year award earlier this season, Corrick already has racked up 405 strikeouts, good for eighth in USF’s record book, and the right-hander has an eye-catching career earned run average of .136.
Corrick also has registered 24 of her 39 career wins this year while helping the Bulls capture their second straight American Athletic Conference regular season crown.
“Things worked out really, really well,” Eriksen said.
Corrick’s Incredible Journey to USF
Corrick has taken interesting path to playing softball at a school that allows her to pursue a cool career in Florida.
Born in Basingstoke, England, Corrick was 3 months old when her father, John, got job opportunity in Georgia he couldn’t pass up.
From there, the Corrick family moved to Englewood, Fla., and finally settled in Sanford, Fla., when Georgina was in sixth grade. Years later, Corrick shined at Seminole High School with 758 strikeouts and a .85 career ERA.
Not bad for a girl who didn’t start playing softball until age 11, thanks to her dad seeing an ad for the sport. Before she put on a glove, a number of other athletic platforms didn’t quite pan out.
“Between the ages at 5 and 10, I sucked at every other sport. My dad wanted me to be athletic so bad and I was awful at everything,” Corrick said. “He put me in the pool and I sank. He put me in golf and I hit a car, so I got kicked out of the golf course. I played soccer and I became the goalie and I just took a nap in the goal.”
Once softball stuck, Corrick started pitching at age 12 or 13 and around 14 or 15 was the time she seriously saw it was something that could turn into a “livelihood.”
By age 15, Corrick, an English citizen, was spending summers overseas playing for both Great Britain’s under-19 squad and national team, which allowed her to face “women that were 30-35 years old that were former Olympians.”
“She was pitching in the World Championships at 16 and shutting Japan down for five, six innings,” Eriksen said. “You knew you had a guy that was unflappable, a guy that was playing the game the way the game was supposed to be played. She’s carried that on to when she got here.”
Corrick also brought her love for marine biology with her on Great Britain’s trips to places like Holland, Oklahoma City, Canada, Barcelona and Italy. During a special time every summer, there was only one viewing option on the TV for the rising softball star.
“I’m really, really passionate about sharks and environmental conservation,” she said. “Ever since I was little, it was always shark week. That was my thing, I didn’t even care about my birthday.”
Fortunately for Corrick, USF offers marine biology and she’s been knocking out prerequisites on the way to getting into her major. This past semester, she conquered her hardest class yet – organic chemistry – on top of playing lights-out for the Bulls.
“Taking it during the season was hard,” she said. “It was a lot of memorization, a lot of just knowing your mechanisms and stuff.”
Corrick said USF’s academic services staff was a huge help along with “phenomenal” support from her teammates.
“Even when we’re on the road, all of us will sometimes by like, ‘Hey, let’s go down to the lobby. Let’s go study,'” Corrick said. “You’ll all meet up and just have a common goal, like on the field when we get together and we know what we need to do, and we succeed at it. We do the same thing in the classroom.”
Organic chemistry 2 is on the horizon for Corrick next semester, but for now she gets to have fun doing her thing in the pitcher’s circle at the Tallahassee Regional. Looking back, Corrick is glad Eriksen discovered her years ago, which allowed her to attend a university that dished out her very first college scholarship offer.
“I think I pretty much knew from my first visit that this was going to be my school,” she said. “I’m so glad (Ken) gave me the time to look around and realize that this school really was the place for me.”
About USF Softball
Be sure to follow USF softball on social media (Twitter / Facebook / Instagram) and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information. The USF softball program has been one of the most successful on campus, making 12 NCAA tournament appearances, including a trip to the Women’s College World Series in 2012.
– #GoBulls –
Erin Beck // USF Athletics
Assistant Director of Communications
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