Florida Softball’s NCAA Regional Hopes Hinge on Hot Bats, Shaky Pitching
Four teams, one spot in Super Regionals.
The 2026 Gainesville Regional starts Friday, and No. 2 Florida (48-10) is looking for its third straight Super Regional appearance against Florida A&M at 11 a.m.
“It’s what every little girl dreams of — getting to play in the postseason in college softball,” outfielder Taylor Shumaker said.
However, Florida A&M (32-20, 19-5 SWAC), Texas State (38-20, 16-8 Sun Belt) and Georgia Tech (30-27, 10-14 ACC) stand in the way of Florida coach Tim Walton’s 17th Super Regional appearance.
The Gators must fight through pitching struggles in order to advance past the Regional. In their last six games, they have allowed 42 runs, compared to only allowing nine in the six prior games.
Florida’s instability behind ace Keagan Rothrock is partly the reason. A bullpen that looked dominant before Ava Brown went down with an injury in February has not been able to get back to 100%.
“I just need one quality inning, just focus on being yourself for a short period of time,” Walton said about his bullpen.
Brown has only had one outing since Feb. 21, and could only get one out before being pulled in a 10-9 loss to Georgia, where she allowed four hits and four runs. Neither Walton or Brown have confirmed if she will pitch again this season.
“She’s healthy enough to where she can run the bases, but we have not gotten her to where we want pitching wise,” Walton said Thursday.
Olivia Miller, Katelynn Oxley and Leah Stevens have all had flashes of dominance, but Rothrock has taken on the majority of the load this season. The junior is tied for fifth most wins in Division I with 26, and has pitched 181 innings. Miller, who has pitched 61 2/3 innings, has the second most work in the Gators bullpen.
“The more Keagan [Rothrock] throws, the better she gets,” Walton said. “In a weekend series, I have seen her get better as she goes, we just need to figure out how well she can continue to pitch.”
Georgia Tech and Florida A&M come to Gainesville looking to take advantage of a vulnerable Florida bullpen. The Yellow Jackets are ranked fourth in the ACC in home runs with 73, and the Rattlers lead the Southwestern Athletic Conference in homers with 44 and OPS with a .920.
Georgia Tech is led by the one-two punch of Alyssa Willer and Gracyn Tucker. The duo has combined for a .373 batting average and 33 home runs. Willer homered in an 8-5 loss to the Gators during the Florida Classic in the early stages of the season, when the Yellow Jackets led 5-3 at one point.
The Rattlers are led by SWAC Player of the Year and two-way star Amari Brown, who averages .411 at the plate and homered 10 times to lead Florida A&M to the program’s first SWAC championship.
FAMU coach Brittany Beall did not back down when asked about Regionals on WRUF’s “Sportscene” with Steve Russell.
“We’re going to shock the world,” Beall said about her approach to the regional.
However, Florida’s bats have been hot all season, headlined by Shumaker and Jocelyn Erickson.
In the 10-9 SEC tournament quarterfinal win against Auburn, Erickson hit her 20th home run of the season to tie the game and became the fifth Gator to reach the 50 career homer club.
Shumaker, the NFCA Freshman of the Year in 2025, followed it up with a stellar sophomore season. She has scored 81 runs in 2026, just nine shy of the Florida record, to go along with 52 RBIs and 16 homers.
In 2025, Shumaker was tied for second in the nation in RBIs with 86 but has moved into another role this season batting leadoff.
“I‘m still the same hitter I am in the one spot as I am in the two spot or any spot,” Shumaker said. “I just make sure I am still getting on base, being productive for the team and putting them in the best position to win.”
The Gators have nine players batting over .300 but could face a battle tested Texas State team.
The Bobcats got into the NCAA tournament as an at-large bid from the Sun Belt and have marquee wins over Clemson, Texas A&M and Texas Tech.
Texas State comes into Gainesville with the best pitching staff in the Sun Belt, as it leads all teams in ERA with a 2.49 and WHIP with a 1.20.
However, a strong Florida offense that posts the seventh best batting average in the nation (.355) could be the unit to get past the duo of Bobcat pitchers Madison Azua and Emma Strood.
In 45 appearances this season, Azua leads the Sun Belt in ERA (1.90), strikeouts (231) and wins (26), tied with Rothrock for fifth most. In 28 appearances, Strood has a 2.19 ERA with 90 strikeouts.
The winner of the Gainesville Regional will face off against the winner of the Lubbock Regional, which features Texas Tech (52-6), Ole Miss (34-24), Boston University (46-13) and Marist (37-19). Texas Tech reached the Women’s College World Series finals in 2025, but fell just short in a tight 2-1 series.
“I want to play ball,” Walton said. “The name of the team has no bearing on me.”
Category: Feature Sports News, Gator Sports, Gators Softball, NCAA
