The University of South Florida softball team is preparing for its second consecutive American Conference Tournament championship and a potential return to the NCAA Tournament, according to a May 6 announcement.
The importance of defense has been central to the Bulls’ season. Head Coach Ken Eriksen said, “It has mostly been unbelievable, catching everything, turning double plays to get us out of innings, and running balls down. You win by outscoring the other team, right? Well, if you can prevent runs, stop the other team from scoring, and not give them any extra outs, that’s a major plus.”
USF enters the tournament semifinals as the top seed with a record of 40-15. The team’s .978 fielding percentage puts it on track to surpass its previous best mark set in 2024. The defensive lineup features second baseman Kathy Garcia-Soto—named Defensive Player of the Year three times in the conference—and shortstop Alex Wilkes anchoring an athletic infield. Outfielders Olivia Elliott, Alexa Galligani and Toryn Fulton have combined for only three errors this season.
Eriksen said that compared with past teams featuring high-strikeout pitchers like Sara Nevins or Georgina Corrick, this year’s squad gets more chances in play: “Now we have so many more opportunities to catch the ball in play. Our infield is special. No question about it… This group works like crazy on its defense.” Galligani added that pride motivates their efforts: “Twenty hours a week is probably the minimum of what we do… The most important thing is to take care of the routine plays; then the spectacular plays will take care of themselves.” Wilkes emphasized teamwork: “No matter how I perform or how anyone performs on that field, we love each other and we’re going to have each other’s backs if one play goes wrong… We all play better when we’re having fun and we’re loose.” Garcia-Soto’s impact was highlighted by both Eriksen—”Kathy… has probably stopped 40 percent of the runs that could have scored against us”—and Galligani: “She holds it down on the field… She does her thing out there and keeps us in games that sometimes we shouldn’t be in.”
USF Softball is part of University of South Florida Athletics—which participates in the American Athletic Conference—and has made 18 NCAA tournament appearances including reaching the Women’s College World Series in 2012 under head coach Ken Eriksen who ranks seventh among active Division I head coaches with over 1,100 wins.according to University of South Florida Athletics.
University officials say USF Athletics has produced Olympians representing multiple countries and earned numerous conference championships while promoting community involvement.according to University of South Florida Athletics.
