LOUISVILLE, KY – One hundred and eighteen student-athletes from across the country, including Francis Marion University graduate student right-handed pitcher
Jenna Walling and senior shortstop
Madalyn White, were revealed as part of the 2026 NFCA Division II Player and Pitcher of the Year watchlist released on April 1.
The list is broken down into the eight NCAA Regions (Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast and West) with up to 15 student-athletes represented in each region. The list is compiled by the elected members of the NFCA Division II All-American Committee with one head coach representing each of the eight NCAA regions. To be eligible, a student-athlete's head coach must be an active NFCA member.
In all, the group consists of 86 programs from 22 conferences.
A native of Currie, N.C., White is batting .467 with nine doubles, a triple, and nine runs batted in. She has scored 39 runs in only 33 games with 23 stolen bases in 25 attempts. She has registered 17 multi-hit games and reached base safely in 52 of her last 53 games dating back to last season. She owns a .964 fielding percentage with only four errors.
Despite missing 10 games with an injury, she ranks 27th nationally in on-base percentage (.547), 28th in stolen bases, 29th in runs scored, 32nd in batting, and 45th in hits.
She has been named the Conference Carolinas Player of the Week twice this season. She has set new program records for hits (286) and runs (220) in a career.
White was a second-team D2CCA All-American in 2025, and as a biology and healthcare administration double major, she has been placed on the Conference Carolinas Academic All-Conference Team three times.
A native of Johns Island, S.C., Walling is 22-6 with four saves and a conference-leading 1.36 earned run averaged. She leads NCAA Division II in wins, strikeouts (168), innings pitched (179.2), games pitched (34), games started (26), and complete games (24). She ranks sixth in saves, eighth in shutouts (5), and 14th in ERA.
At the plate this season, she is batting .297 with 10 doubles, six homers, and a team-leading 36 RBIs.
She has twice been named the Wilson/NFCA National Pitcher of the Week this season. She is second in program history with 79 victories (against only 16 defeats) and is first in career saves with eight.
Walling was a first-team All-Region selection in 2025, is a two-time first-team All-Conference pick, and a three-time Academic All-Conference selection.
Francis Marion, now 33-10 and ranked 14th in this week's National Fast-Pitch Coaches Association (NFCA)/GoRout NCAA Division II Top 25, will next play on Apr. 10 at home against Lees-McRae College.
White is a product of Heide Trask High School. Walling has already earned her undergraduate degree and is part of the MBA graduate program at FMU. She is a product of First Baptist School.
Voted on by the NFCA's Division II All-American Committee, the 2026 NFCA Player of the Year and NFCA/Portolite Pitcher of the Year will be announced on May 27, a day prior to the start of the NCAA Division II National Championships. All student-athletes are eligible for the end-of-the-season award and do not have to be on this list to be considered.
The Player of the Year award was created in 2015 to honor the outstanding athletic achievements among softball student-athletes throughout NCAA Division II. In 2019, the Association expanded the award to include a Player and Pitcher of the Year.
