UF SB: Five Gators Earn NFCA All-American Status; Erickson Tabbed Diamond Sports/NFCA Catcher of the Year

Five members of the Florida softball team were named NFCA All-Americans including unanimous first team selection Jocelyn Erickson who also took home Catcher of the Year honors.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Five members of the Florida softball team were awarded 2024 National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American honors Wednesday afternoon, with sophomore Jocelyn Erickson also earning Diamond Sports/NFCA Catcher of the Year.

Erickson, a unanimous NFCA All-American First Team selection at catcher, is the first Florida player to earn Catcher of the Year honors in program history. Erickson has turned in a monster year at the plate and behind it this season. The Phoenix, Ariz., native sports a .383 (69-for-180) average at the plate with 15 doubles, 13 home runs, 46 runs scored and has tied the UF single-season record for RBI with 80.

Behind the plate, the left-handed catcher has caught 13 of the 19 base runners trying to steal this season, which is currently the lowest stolen base against average in program history.

Joining Erickson on the NFCA All-American First Team is junior outfielder Korbe Otis. Otis in her own right has produced a stellar season at the plate. The Littleton, Co., native has hit .449 (75-for-167) with 77 runs scored, 53 RBI and 57 walks to go along with 12 doubles, five triples and nine home runs. Otis enters the Women’s College World Series as the only player in the country with 70-plus runs scores, 70-plus hits, 50-plus RBI and 50-plus walks. This is both Erickson and Otis’ first All-America accolades of their career.

Skylar Wallace earned NFCA All-America honors for the third consecutive season as she was named to the NFCA All-American Second Team at shortstop. Wallace sports a .421 (75-for-178) average at the plate with a team leading and UF single-season record 87 runs scored to go along with 18 doubles, four triples, 14 home runs and 67 RBI.

The Woodstock, Ga., native set the new NCAA Division I record for runs scored as she eclipsed Sierra Romero’s record of 302 in the first game victory over Baylor during the NCAA Gainesville Super Regional and now has 304 over her career.

Rounding out the Gators All-American selections are NFCA All-American Third Team honorees Reagan Walsh and Keagan Rothrock. Walsh earned her spot at the at-large-DP or utility/non-pitcher position after she turned in one of the best seasons of her career at the plate. The Redondo Beach, Calif., native hit .373 (66-for-177) with 14 doubles, a triple and a team leading 17 home runs with 63 RBI and 35 runs scored.

Rothrock, in her freshman year, earned her spot at the pitcher position after she posted a 30-7 record in the circle with a 2.43 ERA over 233.2 innings pitched. This season she posted 13 NFCA Top 25 wins and hurled a pair of complete-game no-hitters in addition to a trio of complete-game one-hitters.

The Whiteland, Ind, native is the first overall freshman and freshman pitcher at Florida to earn All-American status since Aleshia Ocasio in 2015 when she was selected as an at-large pitcher.

The Gators five NFCA All-American honors are tied for the second most in a single season along with the 2008 & 2009 squads and just one shy of the most in program history when UF had six All-American selections in 2011.

This year the five selection are tied with Oklahoma as the most by any program this season.

The Florida softball team is set to take on No.5-seed Oklahoma State this Thursday, May 30, at 8:30 p.m. CT/9:30 p.m. ET in the opening round of the 2024 Women’s College World Series.

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