Where Will Sydney Berzon Go Next? LSU Star Pitcher Joins Transfer Portal
One of collegiate softball's biggest pitching names has officially entered the transfer portal. Junior right hander Sydney Berzon is exiting LSU. While in the Tiger purple and gold, Berzon accumulated a 2.02 career ERA and notched 416 strikeouts in 486.1 innings.
Berzon in 2023, was named the first NFCA All-American freshman pitcher since 2015 when Carly Hoover and Allie Walljasper were awarded the honors. Over her career at LSU she has been named to the 2024 All-SEC First Team, 2023 All-SEC Second Team, 2024 All-SEC Tournament Team, 2023 and 2024 NFCA All-Region First Team.
LSU All-American Sydney Berzon has entered the transfer portalhttps://t.co/bBKo4qEOtZ pic.twitter.com/9rGrSAuPVQ
— Brady (@BradyVernon) May 20, 2025
However, the larger question is where will the pitching ace end up next? There is no doubt Berzon will make her mark at another Power 4 institution and program, but which one? Here are some of the premiere programs that could be hunting Berzon.
Texas A&M
After being shocked and sent home early in regionals as the No. 1 overall seed, the Aggies could look to the portal to enhance their pitching rotation. Texas A&M sat squarely in the middle of the SEC in ERA this year as senior Emiley Kennedy harbored majority of the workload (157.2 innings). For Trisha Ford's pitching staff no other pitcher threw more than 66 innings this year, thus, perhaps an arm with experience and power could elevate the Aggies next season.
ICYMI: Last night, Liberty softball eliminated No. 1 overall seed Texas A&M 🥎
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) May 19, 2025
For the first time in program history, the Flames are heading to the Super Regional.
🎥 @LibertySB | #WCWSpic.twitter.com/TNAxPNC9vs
Georgia Bulldogs
Georgia sits patiently awaiting SEC rival Florida in the Super Regionals that begin play on Friday. Despite the Bulldogs pitching staff being a senior heavy squad with Lilli Backes and Rachel Gibson, they do not have a pitcher with an ERA under a three and ranked 11th in the SEC in ERA. Perhaps Berzon's ability to strikeout batters would assist the pitching rotation and take some pressure off a defense that sat second to last in the SEC.
FEELIN' PRETTY SUPER 🐶#Team29 | #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/8xzx18h4Ih
— Georgia Softball (@UGASoftball) May 19, 2025
Washington Huskies
Although Berzon is originally from the east coast, perhaps a cross country move to Washington is not out of the question. The Huskies recently fell and were booted out in their second consecutive regional. Although this does not seem dire to some, the Washington fan base is accustomed to a certain level of winning with the Huskies competing in the World Series 15 times, taking the runner-up spot in 1996, 1999, and 2018, and winning the title in 2009.
This year Washington finished the year in the Big 10 in the middle of the pack, but finished the regular season ranked third in staff ERA. However, Berzon could be a third arm added into the rotation that consistently has over 100 strikeouts a year, joining junior Sophia Ramuno (144) and freshman Morgan Reimer (125).
Programs That Love the Portal: Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, & Texas Tech
Other potential programs that have had success in the portal are softball powerhouse Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech. Oklahoma won their fourth Women's College World Series due to the pitching performance of Oklahoma State transfer Kelly Maxwell in 2024. This year the Sooners' pitching staff is ranked fifth in the SEC. However, Oklahoma is known for taking in transfers and making them exceptional. Sam Landry who transferred from Louisiana-Lafayette is now the ace of their staff and was recently drafted No. 1 overall to Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL). Landry's exit would leave a hole that needs to be filled and perhaps Berzon is the answer.
Oklahoma State head coach Kenny Gajewski is known for being a portal wizard. This year he picked up ace Ruby Meylan who left Washington. Meylan pitched majority of the innings this year for the Cowgirls (209) and could use another experienced arm to compliment her next season. Additionally, OSU was knocked out of regionals on Sunday in Fayetteville to Arkansas, perhaps Berzon is the addition Gajewski needs to make it back to a deep run in post season in 2026.
— Ruby Meylan (@rubymeylan) May 19, 2025
Although Texas Tech has National Player of the Year candidate NiJaree Canady, Gerry Glasco is another Power 4 coach known to hunt talent out of the portal. Canady leads the nation right now in ERA and the pitching staff ranks second in ERA in the country, but could another powerful presence on the mound assist the Red Raiders in 2026? Potentially, but I would not be surprised if the Red Raiders do not go after Berzon either; they currently have a young pitching staff outside of Canady and Chloe Riassetto.
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Allison Smith is an expert in leadership and organizational behavior in collegiate and professional women’s sports. Smith is a professor (Georgia State University), researcher, and writer. Smith holds a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee in Kinesiology and Sport Studies. Smith’s research centers on combatting the underrepresentation of women leaders in sport, lack of organizational structure for work life integration for sport employees, and lack of programming and oversight for preparing athletes to transition to life after sport. Since graduating with a bachelor’s in journalism in 2011, Smith has sought opportunities to write about sports as a contributing writer focused on the growth of women’s collegiate, Olympic, and professional sports in this new age and movement for multiple outlets including Athletic Director U, and now Forbes.com. As a former Division I and II pitcher and Division III pitching coach Smith will bring unique insight and expertise to Softball on SI.
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