No. 4 Florida Softball’s Biggest Questions Answered After 14-0 Start
No. 4 Florida softball’s season started Feb 6. and the Gators have dismantled every opponent that has come their way. Ahead of Friday’s Florida Tournament at Katie Pressly Stadium, Florida looks for its best start to a season since the historic 2015 campaign, when the Gators started 28-0 en route to their second consecutive national championship.
Here are some answers from WRUF softball beat writers to the biggest questions surrounding Florida.
What does this 14-0 start mean for the team?
Andres Rodriguez: The Gators’ 14-0 start is vital for the development of this young and hungry team. The Gators’ non-conference record has been weak compared to some of the other top-10 ranked schools, but for a young team, “tune-up” games are necessary.
So is the 14-0 start shocking? No. But it is laying down a foundation for a great run in the most competitive conference in college softball, the SEC.
A mishap in any of its early games would’ve been a big bump in the road to overcome, but Florida has shown resilience, coming back from behind in four of the five games during the Florida Classic.
The early-season adversity will prepare Florida for future challenges that are No. 12 UCLA and No. 1 Tennessee.
Audrey Layton: Everything. Considering the schedule, it’s not surprising this team is 14-0. However, the Gators’ undefeated record sets them up even better for SEC play, which starts in a couple of weeks. If they had dropped one of these first 14 games, one loss could have had a domino effect.
Momentum is important to how a team operates, especially a team with as small of a roster as this one does with 17 players, when an average Division 1 softball team has 20-25 players.
The 2015 national championship Gators started out 28-0 and only lost seven games that season. Texas, the reigning national champions, only lost 12 last season.
With the heavy hitters that Florida has to face later in the season, like Tennessee and Arkansas, it is important that the Gators are not dropping games to a 5-6 Marshall team at the beginning of the season when the schedule is jam packed.
Which returning player has had the biggest impact?
Rodriguez: Ava Brown.
Throughout 14 games, Brown has shown she is one of the best two-way players in the country. The junior is pitching at the highest level of her career, posting a 0.60 ERA in 23 innings to match a 4-0 record and three saves.
Brown can do it at the plate too. She has four home runs and 11 RBIs to start the season and is putting up a career best .355 batting average. She fits into the five-hole that coach Tim Walton put her in perfectly.
Not only is she a star on the field, but off it. The junior was voted captain alongside Jocelyn Erickson by their teammates. The role Brown plays in this young team is pivotal for its growth.
Layton: Of the players returning, Erickson will have the most impactful 2026 season, on the field and off the field. On the field, she has already shown off her offensive power the first two weeks. Not just any player can have six home runs and 21 hits, both tied for the team lead, in 14 games.
Erickson’s hot streak also includes two multi-home run games, after accomplishing the feat only once entering the season. She hasn’t just been hitting the long ball though. She’s sitting at a .488 batting average, only behind Gabi Comia, and is a reliable hitter that Walton can count on.
Off the field, according to Walton and her teammates, Erickson has evolved into quite the leader on this team. She was voted by her teammates alongside Brown to be a captain of the team.
“She’s learned how to communicate better, she’s learned how to compete in better ways, she’s learned how to handle failure in better ways,” Brown said why she voted Erickson as team captain.
Walton even said he’s hoping Erickson gets the opportunity to compete for a spot on the 2028 Olympic team. He said the catcher/first baseman’s versatility would be a great component on a 15-person roster.
What’s the ceiling for this team?
Rodriguez: With its first test not coming until Feb 28. against No. 12 UCLA, it is too early to measure the Gators’ potential.
However, I do think this team has what it takes to make it to Oklahoma City for the Women’s College World Series for a third consecutive season.
Florida has the tools for a deep run in Oklahoma City: an outstanding pitching rotation headlined by Keagan Rothrock, a versatile infield that is one of the best in the country and an outfield with Taylor Shumaker; one of the best players in the nation. Every single player in the lineup can hit, which is the making of a champion.
If the Gators want to return to the promised land and win their third national championship, they need one thing: consistency. Last year’s team saw the highest of highs in a series win against No. 1 Oklahoma, and then followed it with an early loss in the SEC tournament to Ole Miss. Florida needs to stay consistent, especially through SEC play, to hoist its first national championship in more than a decade.
Layton: It may be too early to tell, and the team might not have been tested enough yet, but the ceiling for this team is a national championship, and at the very least a trip to Oklahoma City for the third year in a row.
Pitching will determine the ceiling for this team. If Rothrock can stay healthy, stay dominant and get back into her freshman year form, she puts the Gators in a great place against any team. The program has six pitchers this season, including freshman Leah Stevens, who had a very promising starting debut against Georgia Tech in the final game of the Florida Classic.
We’ve yet to see these players be seriously tested, and I’m interested to see how this offense handles more dominant pitching, no offense to Florida’s opponents thus far.
Note: The Gators start the Florida Tournament on Friday against the Longwood Lancers (1-7). First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m. (98.1-FM/850-AM WRUF will cover all five UF games this weekend starting 20 minutes before each contest)
Category: College Softball, Gator Sports, Gators Softball
