Florida softball is cruising through its fall exhibition schedule on a hot streak. The Gators have played four games and have won each by solid margins.
After their 20-0 win against Santa Fe College on Oct. 16 and 29-1 win against Carson-Newman University on Oct. 17, the Gators then routed both the University of North Florida on Oct. 23 and the University of South Florida on Oct. 27 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium by the similar 13-5 score in the 10-inning games.
LSU transfer and 2026 All-SEC Second Team Tori Edwards has been making a big impact on the team. Against UNF, Edwards hit a grand slam in the third inning that helped carry the Gators. With the Tigers, Edwards batted .284 (44-for-155) and led the Tigers with 12 home runs and 48 walks.
Another Gator making big waves in fall ball is Taylor Shumaker. The 2026 All-SEC First Team junior led the Gators in their win against the University of South Florida by batting 4-for-6, hitting two doubles and two runs scored. Last season, Shumaker started in all 64 games that she appeared in and ranked first in the SEC in batting average (.445), hits (93), runs (92) and doubles (T19).
The Gators take on the Saint Leo Lions at 6 p.m. Friday to start the back half of their fall schedule. Saint Leo finished last season as NCAA DII national champions, beating McKendree in a two-game sweep for the first national title in program history.
After the Lions, the Gators will take on rival Florida State followed by UCF and Jacksonville University.
Florida State comes to Gainesville to play the sixth home fall game on Nov. 13 at 6 p.m. The Seminoles went 52-10 last season, ending their season with a loss to UCF in the NCAA Regional Finals. Florida State retained two All-American pitchers in the offseason in Ashtyn Danley and Jazzy Francik. Danley pitched 100.1 innings last season with opponents hitting just .207 when she was on the mound. Danley pitched 89 strikeouts and 46 walks. Francik was honored as ACC Pitcher of the Year following a season of holding opposing batters to an .183 batting across 154 innings pitched.
Central Florida ended it 2026 season at the NCAA Super Regionals with a loss in two games to No. 8-seeded UCLA. The Knights went 41-19-1, one of the best finishes in program history. Senior Sierra Humphreys was named All-American Third Team for 2026, the second Knight to earn an All-American honor. Humphreys homered in three consecutive games last season against Maryland, Missouri and Northwestern and had a batting average of .379, scoring 48 runs in 2025-26. The Gators will head to the UCF Softball complex to take on the Knights at 2 p.m. Nov. 15.
The Gators close out fall welcoming Jacksonville to Pressly Stadium on Nov. 20 at 6 p.m. The Dolphins went 34-21 last season and ended with a loss to the No. 1-seeded University of Central Arkansas in the ASUN Softball Championship, finishing third overall. Sophomore Jacy Harrelson comes into the season as 2026 ASUN Pitcher of the Year and 2026 NFCA Gulf Region Third-Team. Last season, Harrelson pitched 188.0 innings with 127 strikeouts and an opponent batting average of .221.
Florida will begin 2027 SEC play March 12 in a three-game series against two-time defending NCAA champions Texas in Austin. The Gators went 17-7 in conference play last season.
