Jocelyn Alo ends historic Oklahoma career with WCWS MVP
OKLAHOMA CITY (BVM) – As Oklahoma softball redshirt senior Jocelyn Alo left the field with two outs in the top of the seventh inning of Game 2 of the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City last night, fans likely realized they had seen the last of a player who may go down as the best to ever do it. Rubbing tears from her eyes, Alo made her way to the dugout, hugging her Sooner teammates as she prepared for the team to secure the final out and back-to-back championships. Once the final out was made, Oklahoma would celebrate their victory and it was Alo who would earn top honors as the tournament’s MVP after batting .656 with nine home runs in the tournament and breaking WCWS records for total bases (32), runs (12) and home runs (5).
“I would say with me being a senior, I think this is the best team,” Alo said in a school press release. “But one thing about Sooner softball, and I’ve seen it year in and year out, is they just continue to get better.”
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While Oklahoma has been a dominant force over those two seasons, much of that success can be attributed to Alo who has become as recognizable of a name in college softball as Michael Jordan is to basketball, Tom Brady is to football or Babe Ruth is to baseball. Alo was a star from the moment she made her way to Norman and her heroics will be remembered long after her standout career.
As a freshman in 2018, Alo led the nation in home runs, home runs per game and total bases while playing in all 62 games for the Sooners. This would just be the start for the Hauula, Hawaii native as by the time her career ended she would hold the NCAA record for most home runs in a career with 122.
Alo’s name can be found all over both the NCAA record book and the Oklahoma record book. In addition to her home run record, Alo is also the NCAA record holder for career slugging percentage at .987 and total bases with 761 while ranking second in career RBIs with 323, just five shy of Jenny Dalton’s record 328, fifth in runs with 281 and ranking in the top 25 in hits all-time. She also became the first player in history to hit 30 home runs and bat .500 in the same season this past year. As far as Oklahoma records go, Alo is the record holder for career batting average, home runs, RBIs, runs, slugging percentage and total bases, securing her spot in Sooners’ history.
A back-to-back NCAA champion, Alo also finished her career with as many reputable individual accolades as team accomplishments as a two-time USA Softball Player of the Year, a three-time first-team All-American and a two-time Big 12 Player of the Year to go along with her WCWS MVP honors.
With her record-breaking career now in the books, it will be interesting to see where Alo’s future takes her. While she is set to play over the summer with Team USA in their Canada Cup and Japan All-Star Series appearances, her future beyond that is a bit more cloudy. During the season, Alo was selected first overall in both the Athletes Unlimited Softball College Draft and the Women’s Professional Fastpitch Draft, giving her multiple options for future playing plans.
Regardless of what Alo’s softball future may hold, her college successes in the sport will not be soon forgotten. As one of the best to ever play the game at the collegiate level, Alo left Oklahoma on top of the world and softball fans everywhere will be monitoring her life closely to see where this superstar’s next stop takes her.
"𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓈𝒽ℴ𝓌𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓂ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉, 𝓉𝒽𝓇ℴ𝓊ℊ𝒽 𝓎ℴ𝓊, ℐ 𝒶𝓂 𝒶𝒷𝓁ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝓅𝒾𝓇ℯ 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓃ℯ𝓍𝓉 ℊℯ𝓃ℯ𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒾ℴ𝓃 ℴ𝒻 𝓌ℴ𝓂ℯ𝓃 𝓉ℴ 𝒸ℴ𝓂ℯ."
✍️ @78jocelyn_alo #WCWS x @OU_Softball pic.twitter.com/MQw0WeellH
— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) June 10, 2022
