South Carolina softball earns commitment from SEC pitcher

South Carolina softball has its first commitment of the transfer portal cycle. Mississippi State pitcher Josey Marron will join the Gamecocks next season, SoftballAmerica’s Brady Vernon reported on Friday.

Marron spent three seasons in Starkville, where she had a career 3.90 ERA in 244 innings of work. She had an ERA of 2.38 as a freshman in 2023, followed by a 3.68 ERA in 2024. However, she endured some struggles in the circle this season, finishing with a 6.77 ERA in 50.2 innings.

Marron walked 40 batters and struck out 36 while opponents hit .292 against her this year. For her career, she’s recorded 219 strikeouts and 85 walks.

The Gamecocks currently have six players who have already entered the portal. Mya Flindt, Kadie Becker and Olivia Kotowski, all of whom played for South Carolina in 2025, announced their intentions to transfer on Thursday. Giulia Desiderio, Marissa Gonzalez and Bre Warren, who weren’t on the active roster this year, are also hitting the portal.

The NCAA transfer portal window for softball opened on May 18 and will remain open until June 16. Graduate students, though, can enter the portal at any time.

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Josey Marron’s Bio From Mississippi State Athletics

2024 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District
2024 SEC Honor Roll
2024 NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete
2023 NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete
2023 SEC First-Year Honor Roll

2025 | Junior Made 24 appearances with seven starts in the circle … tossed 50.2 innings … third on the team with 36 strikeouts … tossed 5.1 innings vs. Bethune-Cookman (2/8) without allowing an earned run and while striking out seven … came one out shy of a complete game against Bradley (2/14) while striking out five … also turned a double play to end the fifth against the Braves … threw 2.0 scoreless frames in relief against Samford (2/18) … threw 2.0 shutout innings in relief against Alabama State (2/28) … did not allow a hit in 2.0 innings against No. 18 Auburn (3/9) … pitched 2.2 innings in relief against No. 1 Texas (3/30), allowing one run … threw 2.0 innings of relief, allowing one run, against Missouri (4/12) with two strikeouts … threw 1.1 innings in relief at No. 10 Texas Tech (5/17) in the NCAA Tournament.

2024 | Sophomore Made 27 appearances with 20 starts in the circle … second on the team with a 3.68 ERA and 88 strikeouts … walked just 5.4 percent of batters, which ranked second in the SEC, and averaged 1.66 walks per seven innings … tossed her first career no-hitter and the 24th in school history against IUPUI (2/9) … struck out nine of 16 batters faced in 5.0 innings … no-hitter was the first half of the first consecutive no-hitters in program history … threw her fifth career complete game against No. 23 Louisiana (2/13), holding the Ragin’ Cajuns to just one run … went 4.1 innings in the win vs. No. 13 Utah (2/17), allowing just one earned run … earned her second career save vs. UCF (2/22), retiring one batter … tossed the final 1.1 innings vs. No. 1 Oklahoma (2/23) without allowing a hit or run … earned her fourth win of the year vs. Cal State Fullerton (2/24), tossing 5.0 innings while allowing just one earned run … picked up a complete-game shutout victory against Southern Miss (2/29) while striking out eight … threw 6.0 innings in the win against Troy (3/2) … did not allow an earned run in 4.0 innings against Samford (3/3) … threw her fourth complete game at Ole Miss (3/8), allowing just one run in the win … threw 2.0 hitless frames against ULM (3/13) … tossed her fifth complete game of the year against No. 13 Texas A&M (3/16) … threw her sixth complete game at No. 18 Arkansas (3/23) which is twice as many as she had her freshman year … earned her second save of the year in the win over No. 10 Florida (3/28) while striking out two of the four batters she faced … threw her fifth career complete-game shutout and third of the year at No. 22 South Carolina (4/5) while striking out seven … recorded six strikeouts in 6.0 innings against No. 4 Tennessee (4/13) … started against South Alabama (4/17), recording five strikeouts in 4.0 innings … threw 3.0 innings of relief in the SEC Tournament vs. South Carolina (5/8).

2023 | Freshman Made 22 appearances with 13 starts in the circle … went 8-2, leading MSU in wins … led the team in ERA (2.38), strikeouts (95), innings (79.1) and opposing batting average (.217) … finished the regular season among top 45 nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.28; 26th), strikeout rate (28.3%; 39th), strikeouts per seven innings (8.38; 41st) and FIP (1.84; 24th) … all were top 10 in the SEC … strikeout total was the fifth-highest by an MSU freshmen in school history … threw three complete games and two shutouts, both of which led MSU … made her collegiate debut vs. Bethune-Cookman (2/10) and struck out nine in 5.0 innings while allowing just two hits … tossed her first career complete game vs. Indiana (2/17) while striking out four … threw a complete-game, one-hit shutout vs. South Florida (2/19) … struck out eight, which was one shy of her career high, and needed just 58 pitches against the Bulls … allowed two hits in the win vs. Tulsa (2/24) … picked up her first career save with 2.0 scoreless innings vs. Louisiana Tech (2/25) … tied the MSU freshman record with 13 strikeouts in a one-hit shutout vs. Furman (2/26) … went 5.2 innings before allowing a hit against Dartmouth (3/3) and finished with 6.0 shutout frames and nine strikeouts … struck out five in 4.0 innings against Abilene Christian (3/4) in a no decision … saw her scoreless innings streak end at a career-best 18.0 innings against the Wildcats … won in relief against Murray State (3/5) after throwing 4.0 innings … allowed three earned runs in 3.0 innings to No. 1 Oklahoma (3/10) … went 5.0 innings against Omaha (3/11), striking out six and allowing one earned run … threw 4.0 innings with six strikeouts in the SEC opener against South Carolina (3/17) … tossed 4.2 innings, allowing one run, in the series opener at No. 17 Georgia (3/24) … pitched one scoreless inning in relief against the Bulldogs (3/25) … left her start against No. 10 Arkansas (4/1) with an injury after just 0.1 inning … returned to game action with 2.0 scoreless innings against Memphis (4/19) … threw twice against No. 20 Kentucky (4/28-30), allowing two runs in five innings … tossed 7.0 innings at No. 17 Auburn (5/7) without allowing an earned run while striking out seven to earn the extra-innings victory … threw 2.0 innings in relief at the SEC Tournament with two strikeouts vs. Missouri (5/9).

High School Ranked No. 39 in the class by Extra Innings Softball and is considered the No. 17 pitcher nationally … attended Northwest High School but opted to play travel softball instead because of scheduling conflicts … played for Iowa Premier Fastpitch … team posted a top-10 finish at the 2021 Alliance Nationals and a top-five finish that year at the Colorado Sparkler … team finished in the top five at 2019 PGF Nationals and in the top three at the 2019 Colorado Sparkler … in three full seasons has never allowed an opponents’ average higher than .188 … posted a 1.77 ERA over 284.0 innings as a freshman with 354 strikeouts … added a 1.00 WHIP that season … struck out 399 batters in 242.0 innings with a 1.80 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP as a sophomore … improved to a 0.89 WHIP as a junior with a 1.70 ERA and 504 strikeouts across 350.0 innings … collected 101 strikeouts in her first 58.0 innings as a senior … selected to the 2022 Alliance Fastpitch All-Star Game and the Colorado Sparkler All-Star Game.

Community Service / Academics Named an NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete … earned an academic letter in all four years of high school.

Personal Born Josephyne Carol Marron on Dec. 10, 2003, in Des Moines, Iowa … daughter of Jeremy Marron and Lyndsay Mount … father played basketball at Buena Vista … has two sisters, Locken and Lyla … aunts, Megan Kearns and Kaytlyn Kerns, played soccer at Florida and hockey and softball at St. Kate’s, respectively … has an English bulldog that she says looks identical to Bully XXI … majoring in psychology.

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