Jocelyn Alo’s Inevitability Will Etch Her Name in Softball History Forever
Jocelyn Alo has been a household name for softball fans for a few years now, but her time as an Oklahoma Sooner is coming to a close this week, as the COVID senior will finally run out of eligibility in college and have to move on to a professional career.
However, just because No. 78 won’t be with the Sooners in 2023, doesn’t mean that her legend won’t live on in Norman, Oklahoma, and all of the ballparks she lit up along the way.
Over the course of her career at Oklahoma, Alo has set numerous records, most notably the NCAA career home run record, which was previously held by Lauren Chamberlain of Oklahoma with 95 homers. Alo’s number has now reached 120, which seems nearly insurmountable when you think about.
Statistically speaking, Alo has put herself at, or near, the top of every major offensive statistic in softball.
Home runs? First, with 120.
Batting average? Top 15 all-time with a current career average of .443.
RBIs? third all-time with 320.
While those numbers will certainly ensure that her name will forever be in the pages of college softball record books, that will be just part of the reason why folks around here will remember her. Yes, the numbers are a product of her play, and her subsequent success while doing so, but the thing that makes Jocelyn Alo different is her inevitability.
What I mean by that, is that it is guaranteed that she will make an impact, in some way, in every game she appears in. Just like Thanos, the Marvel super-villain, when Jocelyn Alo is on the field of battle, everyone else around knows who is in charge.
Sure, a pitcher might get the better of her every once in a while, but that’s not the end of the fight. In 765 career at-bats over 265 games, Alo has struck out just 78 times. For reference, that is one strikeout every 9.8 at-bats. Alo will do damage, one way or another, and you don’t have to wait long to see it, as she hits 0.45 home runs per game, meaning that we will see at least one in the championship series against Texas if the statistics hold up.
Alo being inevitable also means that when the moments are big, she is bigger. Breaking the NCAA home run record in her home state of Hawaii. Getting the Sooners going against UCLA on Monday with their season on the line. Matchups with some of the nation’s top pitchers and taking them deep time after time. Jocelyn Alo was built for big moments, and it is where she thrives.
Unfortunately, like Alo, time is inevitable and the legend’s career at OU will come to an end in the coming days, but not without one last record to be broken. Only seven teams in college softball history have won back-to-back national championships, and Alo’s Sooners hope to make that eight teams and the first to do it since the 2016-17 Oklahoma Sooners.
If you get the chance to watch Alo do her thing against Texas this week in the WCWS Championship series, I would recommend doing so. When she is at the plate, it’s like watching Michael Jordan play basketball, Tiger Woods play golf, or Simone Biles perform a routine on the floor. She is the best to ever to do it, and if you don’t watch her now, you’ll be wishing that you did while you had the chance.
