A stark reality in college sports is the limited time that student-athletes have to play at the collegiate level. Although the NC State softball team experienced significant roster turnover this past offseason with plenty of graduations and transfers, fifth-year outfielder Brittany Jackson is looking to help take the program to new heights.
After four seasons as a mainstay in center field for the Kansas Jayhawks, Jackson made the trip east to play for the Pack while also pursuing an MBA. Despite growing up just outside of Dallas-Fort Worth in Mansfield, Texas, Jackson feels right at home at NC State.
“NC State is a home away from home,” Jackson said. “It offers so many great things. I wanted to get my master’s and MBA, so that was the first thing that I looked for, and the second was the culture of the team. The coaches told me how well and how together the girls are, and so I instantly fell in love when I visited.”
On the diamond, Jackson enters the lineup with big shoes to fill. For the first time since 2017, Angie Rizzi is not patrolling center field for the Pack at Dail Softball Stadium, but Jackson is prepared to carry on the NC State tradition of impactful center fielders.
“I talked to [Rizzi] about the ins and the outs,” Jackson said. “I think I’m able to showcase my ability and what I have to offer. I think that’ll help the team [go] a long way because we all work together.”
That aspect of playing as a team is a central theme for the Wolfpack this season. With Jackson joining a handful of other incoming transfers as well as the incoming freshmen, cohesion on the diamond and in the dugout will be paramount to the team’s chemistry.
“Our culture is the strongest and the best that has ever been since I’ve been here,” said head coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift. “Some people might look at that type of roster change, but it’s been amazing because it’s brought in experience. It’s brought in a heightened confidence, a maturity level.”
Patrick-Swift has preached the “home run mindset” since she took the helm at NC State in June 2018 and that philosophy is really taking off within the program both on and off the field. Graduate student shortstop Randi Farricker led the ACC in individual home runs and the Pack also topped the conference in that category as a team, but for Jackson and many other players, the home run mindset transcends softball.
“It’s pushing you to go out there and do your best no matter what,” Jackson said. “That’s a culture that I bought into very quickly because I can go out there, give my best, do what I want … hit a home run. That applies to what I do in life, in school and with my family. I think that’s a great motto to live by, no matter what.”
Jackson is already making a difference in the Wolfpack’s first five games, all at the River City Leadoff in Jacksonville, Florida. Jackson leads NC State in on-base percentage and sits second on the team in OPS, just .086 behind graduate student outfielder Carson Shaner.
Although the Pack had little trouble disposing of their opponents at the event, outscoring them 23-12 despite losing a 1-0 pitchers’ duel to Western Carolina, Jackson is shaping up to be a leader in the dugout during her time at NC State.
