Location Gainesville, FL Colors Blue and Orange | ||
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The Florida Gators softball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of softball. The Florida Gators compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Gators play their home games at Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus, and are currently led by head coach Tim Walton. In the seventeen-year history of the Gators softball program, the team has won two Women's College World Series (WCWS) national championships, five SEC regular season championships, three SEC tournament championships, and have made seven WCWS appearances.
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Ray era: 1997–2000
On June 13, 1995, the board of directors of the University Athletic Association approved the addition of a women's softball team to the University of Florida's athletic program. Larry Ray, who would coach the new Florida Gators softball team for their first four seasons, agreed to be the first head coach on September 4, 1995. After the construction of their new stadium facility, the Gators played their first two games in a doubleheader on February 8, 1997, against the Stetson Hatters, both of which they won.
In the inaugural year of the Florida Gators softball program, Ray's team posted an overall win-loss record of 42–25 and a Southeastern Conference record of 16–8, and was the runner-up in the SEC Softball Tournament runner-up, ultimately losing to the second-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks in the title game. The Gators built on the early success of their first season to win the program's first-ever SEC regular season championship in 1998, and advance to the NCAA Tournament. After the 2000 season, Ray left Florida to return to an assistant coaching position with the Arizona Wildcats softball team at the University of Arizona, where he previously coached.
Johns era: 2001–2005
For the 2001 season, Ray was replaced by Karen Johns. Under Johns, the Gators qualified for the NCAA Tournament four of five season, and compiled a record of 192–131 during her tenure in Gainesville. After the Gators finished third in the SEC Eastern Division for the fourth straight season, and suffered four consecutive losses in the 2005 SEC Tournament and the opening round of the NCAA tournament, Johns was fired.
Walton era: 2006–present
To replace Johns, Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley hired the then-head coach of the Wichita State Shockers softball team, Tim Walton, as the Gators' new coach. Under Walton, the Gators softball team has become a consistent SEC and national title contender. In 2014, the Gators won their first national championship.
2008 World Series
In his third season as the Gators' head coach, he led the team to an NCAA single season record seventy wins and five losses. The team also made its first-ever Women's College World Series (WCWS) appearance after beating the California Golden Bears, two games to none, in the Gainesville Super Regional of the NCAA tournament. After losing its opening game of the WCWS to Louisiana Lafayette, the Gators won three straight against games the Virginia Tech Hokies and Texas A&M Aggies. However, in the double-elimination format of the NCAA Tournament, the Gators needed to beat Texas A&M twice in the WCWS semifinals to move into the championship final series. That second semifinal game went two extra innings before either team scored, and the Aggies earned the 1–0 victory in the ninth inning. Gators pitcher Stacey Nelson ended the 2008 season with single-season school records in wins (47), strikeouts (363), innings pitched (352.1), and earned run average (0.75).
2009 World Series
The Gators began their 2009 season ranked No. 1 in the country in both major college softball polls, but finished second after falling 8–0 and 3–2 to the Washington Huskies in the best-of-three-games final championship series of the 2009 Women's College World Series. The Gators compiled an overall record of 63–5 and completed its SEC regular season with a record of 26–1. They also broke the SEC single-season record for home runs (86), and several single-season team records including grand slams (12), total shutouts (39), and consecutive shutouts (11). Aja Paculba set the single-season stolen base record (27), Francesca Enea broke the career home run record (41) in her junior season, and the Florida pitching staff threw three no-hitters in the regular season (Stephanie Brombacher vs. Coastal Carolina; Stacey Nelson vs. Ole Miss and Arkansas). Nelson was named the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award winner and the SEC Pitcher of the year for the second straight year. Nelson was named to the All-American first team (pitcher), and Brombacher (pitcher), Enea (outfielder), Kelsey Bruder (outfielder), and Paculba (second baseman) were named to the second team.
2010 World Series
The 2010 Gators softball team again qualified for the NCAA tournament, and advanced to the 2010 Women's College World Series. In the opening game of the Series, the fourth-seeded Gators were decisively defeated 16–3 by the UCLA Bruins, who ultimately won the 2010 championship. The Gators recovered to eliminate the ninth-seeded Missouri Tigers 5–2, before being edged 3–2 and eliminated in turn by the sixth-seeded Georgia Bulldogs.
2011 World Series
During the 2011 season, the Gators experienced a series of up-and-down streaks, but recovered to win the SEC Eastern Division for the fourth consecutive year. After being upset by the Auburn Tigers in the first round of the SEC tournament, the Gators qualified for the NCAA tournament and advanced to the 2011 Women's College World Series. In the World Series semifinals, the Gators twice defeated the SEC champion Alabama Crimson Tide, 16–2 and 9–2, to advance to the finals. The top-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils, in turn, swept the Gators, 14–4 and 7–2, in the best-of-three championship finals.
2012 NCAA Tournament
On the eve of the NCAA Tournament, three players: Cheyenne Coyle, Sami Fagan, and Kasey Fagan were dismissed from the team. The No. 5 Gators lost to Florida Gulf Coast and USF in the Regionals and failed to reach the WCWS for the first time in Walton's tenure at UF.
2013 World Series
Despite winning the SEC regular season and tournament titles, the No. 2 Gators lost to Tennessee 2–9 to open the WCWS. After a thrilling 9–8 extra innings game win against Nebraska, they lost 0–3 to Texas to end their season.
2014 National Champs
The Gators beat rivals Alabama for their first national championship with tournament MVP Hannah Rogers in the circle.
2015 National Champs
Led by the National Player of the year in Lauren Haeger, Florida became just the third team in the history of college softball to win back to back national championships. They defeated Michigan in the last game of the best of three series 4–1 to win the title. Lauren Haeger then went on to win the 2015 Honda Award.
Player awards
All-Americans
The Florida Gators softball program has produced 27 Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-American selections.