Francesca Enea enters her third season as assistant coach in the 2026 season with the primary responsibility of developing the program’s catchers and hitters.
The former UF All-American joined UF’s coaching staff on July 24, 2023. Enea’s collegiate career at UF included finishing as the SEC’s all-time home run leader in addition to setting program career records in home runs, RBI and total bases.
In 2025, the Gators made their 13
th Women's College World Series appearance as the No. 3 National Seed. As a team, the Gators hit .334, a new single-season program record, and slugged 109 home runs, the second-most in a season in program history and most since 2011.
Jocelyn Erickson repeated as the Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner at catcher, becoming the first catcher in the award's history to earn the prestigious defensive honor twice in their career.
Taylor Shumaker, named the 2025 NFCA Freshman of the Year, ranked No. 2 in the NCAA in RBI (86), matching the Florida single-season record, which was set by Erickson in 2024.
In 2024, Florida returned to the Women’s College World Series for the 12
th time and earned its sixth SEC Tournament championship, rolling up 54 wins. UF topped Georgia, Texas A&M and Missouri en route to the SEC Tournament title and earned wins over Oklahoma State, Alabama and Oklahoma during WCWS action.
The Gators earned extensive recognition within the Southeastern Conference as Jocelyn Erickson earned SEC Player of the Year honors and Keagan Rothrock added SEC Freshman of the Year accolades. Five Gators earned first-team All-SEC honors in 2024, including Erickson, Kendra Falby, Korbe Otis, Skylar Wallace and Reagan Walsh, while Rothrock added second-team recognition. Erickson and Falby also earned SEC All-Defensive Team honors.
Enea, a three-time NFCA All-American, came back to the Florida program after having spent the previous 12 years as an analyst in the sport for broadcasts across the SEC, American, A10, ASUN and Sun Belt conference as well as seven years of NCAA Regional coverage.
During her collegiate career with the Gators, Enea not only was tabbed a three-time NFCA All-American, but she was also a two-time All-SEC selection and set the conference career home run record with 61 and finished fourth with 221 RBI from 2007-2010. In addition, during her senior campaign in 2010, she was also a USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 10 Finalist and Senior CLASS Award Top 10 Finalist.
Enea’s name can also be found all across the Florida’s record book. The talented slugger set the single-season program record for RBI (64), total bases (137) and sacrifice flies (6) during her sophomore year in 2008, while she also tied the single-season record for home runs (17) that same season.
The Woodland Hills, Calif. native went on to establish a new UF single-season home run record the following year in 2009 as she belted 18 on the way to the Gators first ever Women’s College World Series championship series appearance, while also breaking her own single-season record for RBI (71) and establishing a new record for slugging percentage (.713). The pair of standout seasons in 2008 and 2009 allowed Enea to vault to the top of a trio of Florida career records as a junior: home runs (41), RBI (157) and SAC flies (11).
During her senior season in 2010, Enea yet again broke the single-season school record for home runs as she crushed 20 en route to the Gators third-straight Women’s College World Series appearance. She finished her career wearing the Orange & Blue ranked on UF’s career top 10 list in 20 career categories and 25 single-season categories.
Prior to her collegiate career, Enea competed in high school at El Camino Real where she earned all-city, All-West Valley League and all-area honors for all four years. In addition, she competed as a member of the OC Batbusters coached by Gary Haning and Mike Stith. While with the Batbusters, she claimed the 2003 16-U Amateur Softball Association (ASA) National Championship and 2004 18-U ASA Class A National Championship. The team finished third at the 2005 Gold Nationals and went on to win in 2006.
Following her time at UF where she also graduated in 2010 with a degree in Family Youth and Community Science, Enea continued to compete at the highest level in the sport as she played professionally with the USSSA Pride from 2010-2013. Since retiring from professional softball, she worked in marketing and sales for various companies including Easton and Blast Motion.
Enea is married to Christian Bruey and the pair have a daughter named Sage and a son named Niko.
Francesca Enea Career Accolades & Honors:
- NFCA All-American (3x – 2008, 2009 & 2010)
- NFCA All-Southeast Region (3x – 2008, 2009 & 2010)
- All-SEC (2x -2009 & 2010)
- All-SEC Freshman Team (2007)
- Women’s College World Series All-Tournament Team (2008)
- SEC Player of the Week (3x – Feb. 16, 2009, March 2, 2009 & March 8, 2010)
- SEC All-Tournament Team (2008)
- SEC Community Service Team (2009 & 2010)
- SEC Career Records – Home Runs (61 – 1st), RBI (221 – 4th)
- UF Career Records – Home Runs (61 – 1st), RBI (221 – 1st) and Total Bases (431)
- UF Single-Season Records – Home Runs (20 – 2010 – 1st), RBI (70 – 1st – 2009)
