LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Taylor Shumaker was named as one of the three finalists for the 2025 National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division I Freshman of the Year award, the Association announced on Thursday afternoon.

Shumaker is the second straight Gator – Keagan Rothrock in 2024 – and the fourth overall (Kelly Barnhill & Amanda Lorenz in 2016) to reach the top three for the prestigious award.

A first-team NFCA All-Region and All-SEC selection, Shumaker is tied for second in the NCAA with 83 RBI, three shy of matching the Florida single-season record (86).

 

She has slugged a team-best 21 home runs, which ranks 13^th in NCAA and is tied for second-most of any freshman in the country.

She’s just one home run shy of matching the Florida single-season record (22).

 

The Fullerton, Calif., native, is batting .387 with 70 runs, 17 doubles, a triple, 35 walks and 18 stolen bases in 19 attempts.

Shumaker has already recorded more home runs, RBI, doubles and runs than any other freshman in program history.

She is also the only Gator to ever win Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week honors four times.

In her postseason debut, she batted .571 with three home runs, seven RBI, six runs scored over Florida’s three-game sweep of the NCAA Gainesville Regional.

 

Oregon’s Rylee McCoy and Alabama’s Audrey Vandagriff are the two other finalists.

The winner, which is voted on by the Association’s Division I All-America Committee, will be announced on Tuesday, May 27, prior to the start of the 2025 NCAA Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.

Gator Great Amanda Lorenz won the award in 2016.

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