Florida softball outfielder Taylor Shumaker earns SEC Freshman of the Week honors
Florida softball outfielder Taylor Shumaker earns SEC Freshman of the Week honors
The Florida Gators are one of the true powerhouses in collegiate softball, and the Orange and Blue appear to have another star on its hands.
Freshman outfielder Taylor Shumaker put on a loud, five-homer performance over opening week and earned SEC Co-Freshman of the Week honors. Shumaker is tied for the Division I lead in home runs with UNC Greensboro's Jessie Shipley and is tied for eighth in runs batted in.
Shumaker, a Fullerton, Calif. native, went 9-for-18 (.500) and scored 11 runs over Florida's first six games. She's the first Gators freshman since 2008 to hit two home runs in a regular-season game against a ranked opponent and has tied a single-game record with four runs scored against Michigan. Her 1.444 slugging percentage leads the Orange and Blue.
A lefty, Shumaker shows power to all fields. Her first homer went to left-center against North Florida at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium just over the College World Series graphic. She's the first Florida freshman to hit a home run in the season opener.
"It was just awesome," head coach Tim Walton said after the game. "Any time you can get a hit in your first Gator game, let alone your first hit is a home run, that's a special feat, especially going opposite field."
Shumaker's first two-homer game came on Saturday against No. 22 Michigan. She hit a two-run homer in the first inning and another to center field in the third. On Sunday, she sat on a pitch in the outer third against South Florida and took it over the tall wall in left field. In the same game, she hit an almost identical home run off a screwball.
Shumaker has been a star for some time, leading the No. 1-ranked Orange Country Batbusters Stith on the Alliance fast-pitch circuit. She led that team with a .663 batting average, 17 homers and 60 RBI over 36 games, and won a championship title with the organization in 2023. Shumaker earned a spot on the 2024 MaxPreps All-America Team last June at the conclusion of her high school career. She was No. 9 overall recruit in the 2024 Softball America class.
It became apparent very early that Shumaker's power would translate to the college level. Head coach Tim Walton projected her as the team's starting right fielder after a convincing performance in fall practice.
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