GAINESVILLE, FLA. – Despite the late offensive push, No. 3 seed Georgia Tech softball (32-29, 10-14 ACC) fell 5-2 to No. 1 seed Florida (51-10, 17-7 SEC) in Sunday’s Regional Final to close out the 2026 season.
QUICK HITS
- Madalyn Johnson made her 32nd start, 39th appearance on Sunday. The Yellow Jackets rematch with the Gators saw Johnson record two strikeouts against 17 batters faced across 2.2 innings pitched.
- Johnson was relieved in the third inning by Sydnie Watts. In her 10th relief appearance, 27th appearance of the season, Watts recorded one strike out against 15 batters faced across 3.1 innings of work.
- Alyssa Willer and Abby McKinnis recorded one run each in the Sunday Regional Final game.
- In her freshman season on The Flats, McKinnis appeared in 26 games and scored 10 runs.
- Willer finished the 2026 season leading the team in runs scored (59) and will head into her junior season with 92 career runs scored.
- Addison Leschber was responsible for Tech’s lone hit in the final game against Florida. The senior finished her final season with 38 hits, 120 hits in her career.
- Leschber caps her career seeing a combined 79 hits while wearing White & Tech Gold after transferring before the 2025 season after recording a combined 41 hits at her previous school.
- Sunday marked Tech softball’s first Regional Final since 2010, where the No. 1 seed Jackets fell 4-3 in eight innings to the No. 2 seed Oregon.
- Tech’s two NCAA Regional wins are the most earned while under the direction of head coach Aileen Morales.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Florida was able to score first as the Gators grounded out to second with two runners on base, one of which made it safely home from third.
- The No. 1 seed extended its lead in the second inning with two runs on two hits and one walk. With a runner on second, a home run over left center stacked both of Florida’s second inning runs.
- The Gators scored another one run in the third and one run in the fourth on a combined three hits to force the Yellow Jackets to trail 5-0 going into the fifth inning.
- Tech refused to go down quietly and fought back to score two runs in the fifth. Willer and Gracyn Tucker were patient at the plate and were rewarded with walks before Tucker was relieved of her running duties on first by McKinnis. The left fielder and the pinch runner were sent home shortly after as Leschber sent a double to left center on a 1-1 count.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
For the latest information on the Georgia Tech softball team, follow us on Twitter (@GaTechSoftball), Facebook, Instagram (@GaTechsoftball) or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com.
