At first glance, I couldn't believe it.
I thought maybe there was an error on the NCAA website, where the Division I softball statistics sit. Refresh after refresh I realized the numbers by Georgina Corrick's name were all accurate. Otherworldly, but accurate.
The University of South Florida star pitcher is doing things that no one in the country is doing in the circle this season. She's setting records, twirling perfect games and dazzling against each and every batter she faces.
There's a reason I'm dubbing her softball's modern-day Nolan Ryan.
Georgina Corrick's Incredible 2022 Season
AP Photo/Kelly Sheehan
If you've already sat back in your chair and said, "pshhhh, no way" to that Nolan Ryan comparison, I don't blame you. It's not completely fair to do that to a player in a different sport (though I'd like to see The Ryan Express throw his seven no-hitters underhand).
But like Nolan Ryan, Georgina Corrick is an absolute workhorse.
Through 41 games, she's thrown a ridiculous 182 innings. The next closest pitcher in the NCAA has 138.2 innings under her belt.
And we have to talk about her ability to miss bats. She's got 280 strikeouts already this season, while the next closest in the NCAA has 187. That's almost a full 100 more strikeouts. It's like USF figured out they had a gem and decided to just keep pitching her over and over.
??????@georgecorrick becomes the second player in program history to reach 1,000 strikeouts!#HornsUp? pic.twitter.com/oUCRDEVFdp
— USF Softball (@USFSoftball) March 6, 2022
Corrick has done all of this while maintaining a sparkling .42 ERA, good for second-best in the country.
The real stretch of brilliance is more easily explained with an image:
Screenshot from USF softball's team website.
The Georgina Express allowed just one (seriously, one) run in her first 111 innings pitched this year. That included a 19-strikeout, 11-inning shutout against FGCU and a perfect game against Florida A&M.
While perfect games are rarer, no-hitters are common in softball. And Georgina has already come for Nolan Ryan's mark. On April 2, she threw her seventh career no-hitter against East Carolina.
I could go on and on about last year's American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year, but it's probably more fitting to talk about who Georgina Corrick is and how she blossomed into a softball star.
Who is Georgina Corrick?
Photo by Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images
Corrick was born in England to her parents, John and Sally Corrick, before moving to the United States at a young age. John told MLB.com that he pushed her to try numerous sports growing up, starting with soccer and swimming. It wasn't until after seeing an ad in the newspaper that he encouraged her to try softball.
"He was like, 'Please, please give it a shot,'" Corrick told MLB.com. "'I think you'd like it. You have so much pent-up anger. Please use it.'"
That anger seems to have transformed into competitiveness because competing is something she can't get enough of.
After striking out 758 at Seminole High School in Sanford, Florida, she took her talents to the Bulls.
She's also pitched internationally for Great Britain's U19 softball team at the 2016 European Junior Championship in Spain. She pitched in both the WBSC World Championships in 2016 and 2019. This summer, she'll be pitching overseas for the Great Britain National Team again.
Her teammates and coaches know this, and they don't treat her any differently.
"She's embraced it. She's got great family that's kept her grounded," USF softball head coach Ken Eriksen said. "You would never know she's one of the best pitchers in the world, let alone here at USF."
One of the best pitchers in the world. Yeah. Maybe that Nolan Ryan comparison doesn't look so crazy.
