USF Athletics

South Florida Bulls (44-14)
Opponent: Mississippi State (33-24)
Date: May 20, 2022 at 6 p.m.
Location: Tallahassee, Fla.
TV: ESPNU
Game Notes

She's the Queen. She's the Goat. She's probably the most dominant athlete in USF history (female or male). You might as well write her school and conference records in indelible ink.

She has made an unmistakable name for herself.

Georgina.

"There's only one,'' USF catcher Josie Foreman said.

Georgina Corrick, the alpha and omega of USF softball, is a four-time Pitcher of the Year in the American Athletic Conference. She's among three finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award. Friday night, Corrick will lead the No. 3-seeded Bulls (44-14) against No. 2 Mississippi State (33-24) in the NCAA Regionals at Tallahassee.

The best part of all?

"Every time she takes the field, it's like she's taking the field for the first time as an 8-year-old,'' Bulls coach Ken Eriksen said. "She enjoys putting on the uniform. Obviously, there's softball greatness. But there's also pure joy.

"When you have a great one like Georgina, you hear people say, 'Wow, when that kid was here, she was special.' I played for a guy with USF baseball (Robin Roberts) who always told us, 'Make sure you appreciate the beauty in front of you.' I've been awed by her capacity since she was 14 years old. Just getting her in a USF uniform, I knew it was going to be one heck of a ride. She has appreciated every day and so have I. With her, we've got a shot every day.''

Corrick is 36-5 with a 0.53 ERA and 407 strikeouts in 266 1/3 innings pitched. She has two perfect games and a no-hitter this season with 19 shutouts. She leads the NCAA in victories, strikeouts, shutouts and innings pitched.

With Corrick, the Bulls always have a shot. For this special player, it's a special responsibility.

"I do feel it (responsibility) quite a bit,'' Corrick said. "It's inescapable. It's one of those things where you kind of exist in a fog of everyone speaking about you. The girls are good about not putting that pressure on me. They know it can be exhausting.

"I love my team so much that being able to give them all I have is what I always want to do. As long as they keep putting faith in me, even if other people tell me I need to feel pressure, I just take a deep breath and know that I've earned it. I take pride in being a good teammate.''

Corrick's teammates know that is true.

"She doesn't believe it's all on her,'' Foreman said. "Even when George isn't pitching her best game — which isn't often — the offense and defense can pick her up. But no doubt about it, having Georgina Corrick is a major boost to what we can do. When she's out there, there's a really confident feeling that we can beat anybody.''

Dominant Pitcher
Why is Georgina Corrick so dominant?

"I don't throw the ball the hardest or spin the ball the best,'' Corrick said. "Other pitchers probably have better breaks or better changes of speed. I think what has allowed me to be a good pitcher for a long time is I have a love of learning.

"I learn batters. I learn pitch sequences. It's how to break balls, how to work in planes, how to do this tunneling stuff. If you're a softball pitcher, you hear this stuff all the time. I've been able to fill my toolbox with a lot of things. The more things you learn, the better chance you have to be good at them, so you have more things to call upon in the games.''

For Eriksen, a familiar saying applies. Corrick is playing chess. Everyone else is playing checkers.

"She's a chess player in her mind,'' Eriksen said. "She's a chameleon when it comes to reinventing the approach to each batter. She's just brilliant in that circle. Certain people are like that analytically. They see things other people don't.

"It's like a basketball player who sees the play before they get across half-court. It's like (Wayne) Gretzky in hockey. He was always where the puck was going to be — one step ahead. That's George. When she gets the hitter trying to think with her, then they get frustrated, then she's got them.''

Foreman, who admittedly has the best seat in the house at catcher, said she sees it all the time.

"One day, I'll tell my kids that I once caught the nation's best pitcher and I had a blast doing it,'' Foreman said. "What I see is an incredible work ethic, this ability to always be on top of things. But there's also her fight. She's not giving up until she's literally dragged off the field.

"Look, she knows she can sling it. And people think they can time her up. But if you do that, she'll come off-speed and spin you around. They go up there saying to themselves, 'Don't chase the rise ball … don't chase the rise ball.' Then we get them to chase it anyway. I've seen opponents saying to themselves, 'Oh, we're facing Georgina today?' And it's almost like they're defeated already.''

Thoughtful Person
Long ago, Corrick secured a special place in USF's athletic universe. Now she has a national reputation. The obvious perception is portraying USF softball as Georgina Corrick … and the others.

Which she hates.

"I do not want to be consumed into the thinking that I am a good softball player and I have to be a certain way because of that,'' Corrick said. "That's a devastating mentality to have. We have (Alexis) Johns, who is leading the NCAA in stolen bases. We have Josie Foreman doing a great job behind the plate and the incredible leadership of Meghan Sheehan. They get overwhelmed and overshadowed by what I've been doing. Sometimes, that's embarrassing. It's too big of a spotlight.

"I know what's it like to have someone decide who I am without even considering me. They think you're like your stats or what you've done in the past and you're really not. I meet someone and they say, 'Oh, I didn't know you were like that.' Because they had already decided in their mind who I was … without asking me. So sometimes, you're out there too much. Softball is what I do. It's not who I am. Attention is a double-sided sword. But it showed me how to figure out who I didn't want to be, which is what a lot of these people decided I was. I want to stay grounded. I've had four good years here, but I'm going to have 50 good years after this.''

That level of thinking has endeared Corrick to her teammates.

"As unbelievably good as George is, she makes it about the team first,'' Foreman said. "She's out there to work for the team. As much as it's 'Georgina this' and 'Georgina that' from the outside, she always wants the team to be recognized before her.''

And that's why Corrick has given little thought to the finality of her career. There's work to be done in Tallahassee. By winning a Regional and reaching the program's second-ever Super Regional — with the Women's College World Series in sight — this USF team could achieve legendary status.

"Less is more right now,'' Eriksen said. "A full mind is an empty bat. Too much information can paralyze. Players need to react. We're not overdoing anything at this point.

"We've had games where we don't look great. The antidote has always been the next game. The finality is the last out of a championship run. For players like Georgina, it's not in their DNA to look past the next game or think about the emotional part. They're competitors. Elite competition is like a drug, an overwhelming drug, and she's not thinking past the next game. I can assure you.''

"We've worked to get here and we deserve to be here,'' Corrick said. "No one can take that from us because we've earned it. We're going to give everything, ever single thing we have. At the end of the day, we've got a shot. We've earned that opportunity. And that's a blessing.''

Asked to name the keys to USF's Regional success, Foreman said, "Grit, fight and heart.''

There's a fourth key, the ultimate intangible.

Georgina.

"If she never does another thing, her numbers speak for themselves and she's already the best ever,'' Foreman said. "But now, with our season on the line, you've going to see Georgina giving everything. It's going to be a level up from normal. And that's going to fire everybody up.''