University of Florida Softball

2024 NFCA Hall of Fame inductee Tim Walton enters his 21 st year at the helm of the Florida Gators softball program. Going into the 2026 season, Walton has t...

Aric Thomas enters his ninth season as an assistant coach for the Gators in 2026 with the primary responsibility of developing the program’s outfielders and hitters along with spearheading the recruiting efforts. During Thomas’ eight seasons at UF to date, the Gators have posted a 362-117 (.755) record with five Women’s College World Series appearances, three SEC regular season championships and three SEC Tournament titles. In 2025, Florida hit .334, a new single-season program record, and slugged 109 home runs, the second-most in a season in program history and most since 2011. The Gators ranked No. 1 in the nation in walks (299) and in the top-10 in the NCAA in hits (566), home runs (109), on-base percentage (.442), RBI (451), slugging percentage (.589), runs (476) and sacrifice flies (26). Taylor Shumaker, named the 2025 NFCA Freshman of the Year, ranked No. 2 in the NCAA in RBI (86), matching the Florida single-season record, which was set by teammate Jocelyn Erickson in 2024. In center field, Kendra Falby was named the Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner for the second season in a row, becoming just the second outfielder in the award's history to earn the prestigious defensive honor twice in their career. In 2024, the Gators hit .330 with 100 home runs and 520 runs, all best in the SEC by a significant margin. The Gators were one of two teams to hit above the .300 mark (.306, Texas A&M), one of three teams with more than 70 home runs (92, Georgia; 84, Tennessee) and 149 run

Francesca Enea enters her third season as assistant coach in the 2026 season with the primary responsibility of developing the program’s catchers and hitters. The former UF All-American joined UF’s coaching staff on July 24, 2023. Enea’s collegiate career at UF included finishing as the SEC’s all-time home run leader in addition to setting program career records in home runs, RBI and total bases. In 2025, the Gators made their 13th Women's College World Series appearance as the No. 3 National Seed. As a team, the Gators hit .334, a new single-season program record, and slugged 109 home runs, the second-most in a season in program history and most since 2011. Jocelyn Erickson repeated as the Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner at catcher, becoming the first catcher in the award's history to earn the prestigious defensive honor twice in their career. Taylor Shumaker, named the 2025 NFCA Freshman of the Year, ranked No. 2 in the NCAA in RBI (86), matching the Florida single-season record, which was set by Erickson in 2024. In 2024, Florida returned to the Women’s College World Series for the 12th time and earned its sixth SEC Tournament championship, rolling up 54 wins. UF topped Georgia, Texas A&M and Missouri en route to the SEC Tournament title and earned wins over Oklahoma State, Alabama and Oklahoma during WCWS action. The Gators earned extensive recognition within the Southeastern Conference as Jocelyn Erickson earned SEC Player of the Year honors and Keagan Rothrock added SE

Stephanie VanBrakle Prothro enters her second season on the Florida coaching staff in 2026 with the primary duty of developing UF's pitching staff. In 2025, the Gators made their 13th Women's College World Series appearance as the the No. 3 National Seed. Florida's pitching staff combined for 10 shutouts, which ranked in the top-10 nationally. Prothro came to the Gainesville after a two-year stint as the head coach of the Memphis softball program and spent the prior 12 years at Alabama as the pitching coach. In Tuscaloosa, Prothro assisted the Crimson Tide in winning the 2012 NCAA Championship in addition to three Southeastern Conference Regular Season Championships and two SEC Tournament Championships. During her time as the pitching coach at Alabama, Prothro oversaw the development of National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Americans Montana Fouts, Alexis Osorio, Sydney Littlejohn and Jaclyn Traina. The talented group garnered a total of nine All-American awards, in addition to numerous other accomplishments, under Prothro during their careers. The list of lengthy accolades that pitchers acquired under the tutelage of Prothro also includes four SEC Pitcher of the Year winners, a pair of SEC Freshman of the Year awards, 11 All-SEC selections, two All-SEC Freshman Team members and an NFCA National Pitcher of the Year that Fouts took home in 2021. Fouts won softball's 2023 Honda Award. Prothro's pitching staffs also set records at Alabama as the 2017 staff of Osorio,