Jocelyn Alo understood the challenge ahead.

Last season, the Hauula native put herself on the national radar in her first year at Oklahoma, leading the nation with 30 home runs while hitting .420 with a team-high 72 RBIs. Only two freshmen in NCAA Division I history had homered that many times in a single season before — Hawaii’s Kelly Majam in 2010 and Oklahoma’s Lauren Chamberlain (who went on to set the NCAA career record) in 2012. She also set the NCAA freshman record for home runs per game with 0.48 over Oklahoma’s 62-game schedule last year.

Alo was awarded with National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-America honors and was named freshman of the year by both the NFCA and the Big 12 Conference. She entered her sophomore season as perhaps the most feared hitter in college softball, regardless of class. Fans across the country wondered what she would do as an encore, especially after setting the bar so high for herself.

Taking a break

Heading into the Sooners’ series at Kansas from April 12 to 14, Alo was hitting .361 with seven home runs. By no means was it a sophomore slump, but Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso noticed Alo was pressing too hard to replicate what she had done the year before.

The Sooners headed to Lawrence for their series. Gasso told Alo to stay back in Norman.

“She’s been a little bit unhappy or just frustrated with herself,” Gasso told The Oklahoman at the time. “I’ve been in places where athletes have gone to that area where they just need a break. She didn’t do anything wrong. There’s no punishment, nothing like that. It’s more me caring about her as a person and giving her a breath. It was the right time to do it, and I do believe it’s recharged her.”

Originally opposed to the idea, Alo eventually came to embrace the brief break and arose from it invigorated.

“I wasn’t too happy about it at first. But I took the initiative and told myself I really need to take a step back and just take a break from softball,” she said in a phone conversation Tuesday. “That whole week, I didn’t hit, I didn’t watch softball, I didn’t throw a ball, I didn’t do anything softball related. I strictly just went to school, came home and got caught up with my schoolwork and stuff like that. It definitely helped me to reset and recharge.”

In the 15 games Alo’s played since then, she raised her batting average to .388. In 51 games played this season, she has 14 home runs with 47 RBIs and has struck out just 17 times in her 152 at-bats.

Prep power

Alo’s prep accolades include an HHSAA wrestling title at 184 pounds as a Kahuku sophomore in 2015. After transferring to Campbell the next year, she took home consecutive state softball titles and Star-Advertiser player of the year honors to end her high school career.

During her senior year state tournament, Alo was walked in 13 of her 17 plate appearances. Alo knew she’d have more opportunities to swing once she went to college. However, much like her latter years at Campbell, teams started to key into Alo’s Ruthian exploits at the plate the second year around.

“High school’s very different, they would just walk me and walk me and walk me,” she said. “Pitchers this year, they have film on you and know what you do and what your tendencies are. Freshman year, you come in and they don’t know who you are, they don’t know what you can do.

“For me it was just about adjusting to that, adjusting to how pitchers were pitching to me. It’s definitely different from being walked all the time.”

Aiming for OKC

Last Friday, Oklahoma (52-3) powered its way to a five-inning, 12-2 mercy rule victory over Maryland-Baltimore County to start NCAA regional play in Norman. The Sooners downed Wisconsin 4-0 the next day to put themselves within one win of the super regionals. The Badgers returned the favor on Sunday with a 2-1 win to force a winner-take-all third matchup between the teams.

For the Sooners, the loss put an end to a 41-game winning streak, an NCAA Division I single-season record, a run that included the team’s second straight 18-0 mark in Big 12 play. It also snapped a string of 49 consecutive victories at home dating back to last season.

On top of all that, the Sooners were facing elimination the next game, which was set to begin right after the first one ended. All the history made leading up to Sunday was in jeopardy of being made a moot point in just a matter of hours.

“We regrouped as a team and it was like ‘OK, we need to buckle down right now and we’re not gonna let this loss define us,’ ” Alo said of the 45 minutes between the games.

Oklahoma prevailed 2-0, advancing to the super regionals, where it will host Northwestern in a best-of-three series starting Friday. Starting in right field and hitting in the cleanup spot for all four games, Alo went 3-for-12 with two RBIs and a double in last weekend’s regional. Last year’s Sooners fell short at the Women’s College World Series, which is held annually in Oklahoma City, approximately a half-hour drive from OU’s campus.

Alo may not have the same numbers as last season, but as the top national seed in this year’s NCAA tournament, the Sooners are primed to take their third national championship in four years. For Alo, it would be her first.

Olympic goals

But Alo has set her sights set even higher on the diamond, hoping to earn an invite later this year to try out for the USA national team for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. It’s a revival 12 years in the making after baseball and softball were excluded by the IOC following the 2008 games.

She may accomplish all of the above in college and beyond. If she does, she’ll always remember the low point that made it possible.

“I think that week off definitely elevated my game, because after that, I felt like I took off and was just being myself again,” she said. “I wasn’t trying to live up to other people’s expectations, I was just being me and it felt good. As much as I hated that week off, it was the best thing that happened to me this year.”

AROUND THE NATION

BASEBALL

>> Jacob Maekawa, Mid-Pacific ’16: The San Diego State junior went 2-for-9 with two RBIs and a double in a weekend series against New Mexico. The Aztecs (32-23, 16-13 Mountain West) face UNLV on Thursday to start the Mountain West tournament in Reno, Nev.

>> Tyler Yamaguchi, Mid-Pacific ’15: The Northern Colorado senior went 5-for-13 with five RBIs and a run in a weekend series against Seattle to finish his college career. The Bears (12-35, 8-19 WAC) took two of three from the Redhawks but did not qualify for the WAC tournament. Yamaguchi finished his season with a .242 batting average in 38 games.

>> Pono Anderson, Saint Louis ’15: The Texas-Arlington senior pitched a scoreless inning against No. 12 Baylor in a 12-2 loss for the Mavericks on May 14. On Friday, he allowed five earned runs in five innings with two walks while striking out six for a no-decision in a 13-11 loss to Texas State. At 6-4 through 14 starts, Anderson’s wins are a team high. The Mavericks (31-24, 17-12 Sun Belt) open the Sun Belt tournament today against Coastal Carolina, the 2016 national champion, in Conway, S.C.

>> Everett Lau, ‘Iolani ’16: The Auburn junior delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th inning to lift the Tigers to an 8-7 win over North Alabama on May 14. Lau is 10-for-40 with a home run for the Tigers (33-23), who opened the SEC tournament with a 5-3 win over Tennessee on Tuesday. Lau did not appear in the victory for the Tigers, who advanced to face top-seeded Vanderbilt today.

>> Noah Sills, Mid-Pacific ’15: The Lamar senior pitched two scoreless innings with a hit and two strikeouts to earn the win in a 3-2 victory over Central Arkansas on Friday. On Saturday, he tossed a scoreless ninth inning in a 4-3 loss for the Cardinals. After failing to reach the conference tournament, Lamar finished its season 18-36 overall and 9-21 in Southland play. Sills went 3-6 with a 3.92 ERA in 82 2/3 innings pitched.

>> Trayson Kubo, Leilehua ’15: The Stephen F. Austin senior improved to 3-3 in a 5-4 win on Friday, allowing four runs with two walks and three strikeouts in six innings pitched. The Lumberjacks (24-31, 16-14 Southland) face Southeastern Louisiana today in the Southland conference tournament in Sugar Land, Texas.

>> Cole Cabrera, Punahou ’17: The Cal Poly sophomore went 3-for-10 with three RBIs and a run in a series against UC Riverside last weekend. The Mustangs (26-27, 15-6 Big West) are tied for second in the conference with UC Irvine. A sweep against UC Santa Barbara (44-7, 18-3) from Thursday to Saturday would give the Mustangs the Big West crown and automatic NCAA tournament berth.

>> Wyatt Young, Mid-Pacific ’18: The Pepperdine freshman went 3-for-12 in a weekend series against Saint Mary’s last weekend. The Waves fell shy of a West Coast Conference tournament bid and ended their season at 24-25 overall and 14-13 in WCC play. Young started all 49 games this season, hitting a team-high .313 with two home runs.

>> Codie Paiva, Kamehameha ’15: The Loyola Marymount senior was stuck with the complete-game loss in a 1-0 defeat to Gonzaga on Friday, allowing six hits with six strikeouts and no walks. The Lions (29-23, 15-12) open the double-elimination WCC tournament tomorrow against BYU in Stockton, Calif.

SOFTBALL

>> Chelsea Horita, Kamehameha ’16: The Linfield junior went 2-for-10 with four RBIs, a double and a run in three games against Texas Lutheran in an NCAA Division III Super Regional hosted by Linfield last weekend. Texas Lutheran took the deciding game 5-2, advancing to the Division III College World Series and ending the Wildcats’ season at 39-8-1.

>> Kristin Frost, Pearl City ’16: The Johnson & Wales junior was named to the All-Great Northeast Athletic Conference team for the second time in her career. Against hitters in the GNAC, Frost had a 1.67 ERA and finished in the conference’s top 10 in wins, innings pitched and opponents’ batting average. She led the conference with three shutouts. Frost finished the season 9-6. She also went 21-for-85 at the plate with a home run and 10 RBIs.

WOMEN’S GOLF

>> Malia Nam, Kaiser ’18: The Southern California freshman won her individual matchup on Tuesday at the NCAA women’s golf championships over Arizona’s Yu-Sang Hou with a 3-and-2 victory at the Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark., but the Trojans were eliminated when the Wildcats won the team matchup 3-2. The tournament concludes today.