UF junior Olivia Miller got the win in relief Wednesday night against Florida Gulf Coast.
Who Will Circle Up?
Friday, April 17, 2026 | Softball, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — They were Tim Walton's final words of a seven-minute post-game chat with the media Wednesday night. They were succinct. They were revealing.
"We need another pitcher," Walton said. "We need another pitcher to step up if we're going to make a run in the postseason."
About 30 minutes earlier, Walton had hailed freshman Leah Stevens from the bullpen to start the seventh inning and try to close out a four-run lead at home against Florida Gulf Coast. Stevens, making her 15th appearance of the season, struck out the first batter she faced, then issued back-to-back walks.
Walton had seen enough.
Enter Keagan Rothrock, with her 70 career wins, for the UF ace's first mid-week appearance since March 25; just her second since the start of Southeastern Conference play. Her first batter reached on a fielder's choice, loading the bases and bringing the tying run to the plate. Rothrock got MacKenzie Leiti on a sacrifice fly, then struck out Sophie Wylie to finish off a 9-6 victory.
For the night, the Gators cycled through a trio of pitchers before calling on Rothrock for the 30th time this season (and for her fourth save). Sophomore Katelynn Oxley got the start, gave up five runs over three innings and left with a 5-4 deficit. Junior Olivia Miller pitched three innings of shutout ball while the Gators' red-hot bats were on the way to 10 hits, including homers from Taylor Shumaker and Cassidy McLellan, to reclaim the lead.
Miller left with a 9-5 advantage, in favor of Stevens, thus prompting the question.
On the note of pitching, the decision to go to Leah, is that just a matter of … ?
Walton's answer came before the question had been completely asked.
It's April 17 and the Gators (41-5, 14-4) are ranked fourth in the nation heading into a weekend series against Auburn (23-19, 2-13) that will mark the final home series of the regular season, complete with an emotional "Senior Day" celebration Saturday. UF, again, is in excellent position to host region and Super region play in the NCAA Tournament.
The Tigers sit next to last in the SEC standings, have lost nine straight and score a combined eight runs during their skid. They would appear to present another opportunity to find that other pitcher, but two upcoming non-conference games against Florida State and UCF each, plus the SEC finale at Georgia, followed by the SEC Tournament May 5-9 at Lexington, Kentucky, will provide further opportunities — more challenging ones — to find that other pitcher.
And, like Walton said, they need to.
Rothrock, who is 21-4 with a 2.42 ERA, has thrown 141.2 innings, which is three times more work than runner-up Oxley (4-1, 4.47), who is 4-1, with three of those decisions in SEC play. Then comes Miller (7-0, 1.21) in 21 games and 38 innings, followed by Stevens (4-0, 3.80) in 27.2 innings and Allison Sparkman (0-0, 1.62), the transfer from FGCU with 27.2 innings, but only 1.2 innings in SEC play.
The obvious answer would be Ava Brown, but the battle-tested and ferociously competitive junior remains in the hitting-only phase of her comeback from a lower-body injury suffered Feb. 28. She returned April 3 in a hitting-only role — when she's reached base, a pinch-runner has come in — but has yet to do anything on the pitching front other than some bullpen work.
"She hasn't thrown to live batters yet," Walton said. "It really is day-by-day. I think offensively, it was the best she looked coming out of the box [Wednesday]. I felt like she really sped out of there pretty good. Last week, we did some slide drills and some jump drills just to see kind of where she's at. [On Thursday] we're running the bases for the first time."
If or when Brown is back in the circle again will be a welcome sight. In the interim, Walton likely will keep rotating his options and see who takes that step, while leaning into an offense that is raking, led by a pair of .400-plus hitters at the top of the lineup — Shumaker at .471 and Jocelyn Erickson at .450 (with Kenleigh Cahalan entering the chat at .382) — and giving their pitchers (and coach) a bit more time to sort things out.
Also in the interim, Rothrock will be ready. As usual.
Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu. Find his story archives here.
"We need another pitcher," Walton said. "We need another pitcher to step up if we're going to make a run in the postseason."
About 30 minutes earlier, Walton had hailed freshman Leah Stevens from the bullpen to start the seventh inning and try to close out a four-run lead at home against Florida Gulf Coast. Stevens, making her 15th appearance of the season, struck out the first batter she faced, then issued back-to-back walks.
Walton had seen enough.
Enter Keagan Rothrock, with her 70 career wins, for the UF ace's first mid-week appearance since March 25; just her second since the start of Southeastern Conference play. Her first batter reached on a fielder's choice, loading the bases and bringing the tying run to the plate. Rothrock got MacKenzie Leiti on a sacrifice fly, then struck out Sophie Wylie to finish off a 9-6 victory.
For the night, the Gators cycled through a trio of pitchers before calling on Rothrock for the 30th time this season (and for her fourth save). Sophomore Katelynn Oxley got the start, gave up five runs over three innings and left with a 5-4 deficit. Junior Olivia Miller pitched three innings of shutout ball while the Gators' red-hot bats were on the way to 10 hits, including homers from Taylor Shumaker and Cassidy McLellan, to reclaim the lead.
Miller left with a 9-5 advantage, in favor of Stevens, thus prompting the question.
On the note of pitching, the decision to go to Leah, is that just a matter of … ?
Walton's answer came before the question had been completely asked.
It's April 17 and the Gators (41-5, 14-4) are ranked fourth in the nation heading into a weekend series against Auburn (23-19, 2-13) that will mark the final home series of the regular season, complete with an emotional "Senior Day" celebration Saturday. UF, again, is in excellent position to host region and Super region play in the NCAA Tournament.
The Tigers sit next to last in the SEC standings, have lost nine straight and score a combined eight runs during their skid. They would appear to present another opportunity to find that other pitcher, but two upcoming non-conference games against Florida State and UCF each, plus the SEC finale at Georgia, followed by the SEC Tournament May 5-9 at Lexington, Kentucky, will provide further opportunities — more challenging ones — to find that other pitcher.
And, like Walton said, they need to.
Gators softball coach Tim Walton ended his press conference with an important quote:
— Isaac Edelman (@IsaacEdelman) April 16, 2026
"We need another pitcher to step up if we want to make a run in the postseason." pic.twitter.com/xr7RFhNxFx
Rothrock, who is 21-4 with a 2.42 ERA, has thrown 141.2 innings, which is three times more work than runner-up Oxley (4-1, 4.47), who is 4-1, with three of those decisions in SEC play. Then comes Miller (7-0, 1.21) in 21 games and 38 innings, followed by Stevens (4-0, 3.80) in 27.2 innings and Allison Sparkman (0-0, 1.62), the transfer from FGCU with 27.2 innings, but only 1.2 innings in SEC play.
The obvious answer would be Ava Brown, but the battle-tested and ferociously competitive junior remains in the hitting-only phase of her comeback from a lower-body injury suffered Feb. 28. She returned April 3 in a hitting-only role — when she's reached base, a pinch-runner has come in — but has yet to do anything on the pitching front other than some bullpen work.
"She hasn't thrown to live batters yet," Walton said. "It really is day-by-day. I think offensively, it was the best she looked coming out of the box [Wednesday]. I felt like she really sped out of there pretty good. Last week, we did some slide drills and some jump drills just to see kind of where she's at. [On Thursday] we're running the bases for the first time."
If or when Brown is back in the circle again will be a welcome sight. In the interim, Walton likely will keep rotating his options and see who takes that step, while leaning into an offense that is raking, led by a pair of .400-plus hitters at the top of the lineup — Shumaker at .471 and Jocelyn Erickson at .450 (with Kenleigh Cahalan entering the chat at .382) — and giving their pitchers (and coach) a bit more time to sort things out.
Also in the interim, Rothrock will be ready. As usual.
Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu. Find his story archives here.
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