University of Georgia Athletics
Roelling ‘More Confident In My Stuff’ This Season
April 29, 2026 | Softball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Last season, Georgia softball pitcher Randi Roelling threw 160.2 innings and had 107 strikeouts and 105 walks.
"I always call myself 'effectively wild,'" the junior said this week. "I throw strikes, but I also throw a lot of balls."
She's not so wild anymore. Heading into the No. 14-ranked Bulldogs' series against No. 8 Florida this weekend at Jack Turner Stadium, the left-hander from Modesto, Calif., has 108 strikeouts and just 44 walks in 112.2 innings in the circle.
"My walks are down because I'm more confident in my stuff," she said. "I'm just better this season. I just have better stuff, more confidence, and I'm more prepared."
Coming out of high school, Roelling wasn't highly recruited, she said, and she signed with California, where she pitched 133.0 innings, struck out a team-high 101 batters and walked 63 (also a team high). She then transferred to Georgia and started 25 games, throwing 160.2 innings.
"I came into last year a little timid and a little scared, because I would go after every game, but I was also scared because every time I threw it over the plate, it felt like it got hit out," said Roelling, who surrendered 28 home runs last season. "It was almost like, if I throw it over the plate, they're going to hit it out. If I don't throw a strike, I'm going to walk them.
"I was riding this fine life of not having this much confidence in my stuff. But I also didn't have the stuff that I have this year."
Roelling is a different pitcher now, thanks to a lot of work over the past two seasons with pitching coach Chelsea Wilkinson, a former All-American pitcher for the Bulldogs who ranks in the top 10 in every meaningful pitching category in program history. Roelling said her rise ball is a much more effective pitch now than it was a year ago.
"I jumped my rise from like two inches of break to seven inches," she said.
Last week at No. 1 Oklahoma, Roelling said she threw a rise ball that "missed" and accidentally went right down the middle. But because the batter was expecting it to move so much more than it did, she swung and missed.
"I'm able to do that now with the breaks that I have. Do I want to do that? No. But am I grateful that I was able to do it and get a swing and a miss? Yes," she said. "I just like being able to keep getting better each year. In pitching, it's hard to get better each year, and you kind of get more known each year, too. There's more film on you, and people have machines now set up to your exact pitch tables, so you have to enhance yourself each year."
Wilkinson, Roelling said, "has completely transformed me into a whole different pitcher, and I'm so grateful for that."
In last weekend's series against the power-packed Sooners, who lead the nation with a team batting average of .401 and with 169 home runs, Roelling pitched all of game two, a 3-1 Oklahoma win, and pitched 2.2 innings of relief in game three, which the Sooners won 6-5 to sweep the series. Roelling had pitched in big games before, but this opportunity felt different, she said.
"I was telling the girls right before I got my chance to pitch in the second game, I was like, the little girl in me is screaming right now. It was like, I'm in one of the biggest stages of college softball, and I'm getting to do it," she said. "We didn't win, but I still felt like I learned a lot and I did the thing. I was just so grateful, and it was so much fun. The whole experience was amazing.
"Even though we lost, I just didn't take it as a loss. I just took it as, I got to experience that."
Those moments are part of why she came to Georgia, to play with a great team against some of the best competition in the country. Now, the Bulldogs will wrap up their regular season against the Gators starting Thursday, and then head to the SEC tournament in Lexington, Ky., next week.
Staff Writer
Last season, Georgia softball pitcher Randi Roelling threw 160.2 innings and had 107 strikeouts and 105 walks.
"I always call myself 'effectively wild,'" the junior said this week. "I throw strikes, but I also throw a lot of balls."
She's not so wild anymore. Heading into the No. 14-ranked Bulldogs' series against No. 8 Florida this weekend at Jack Turner Stadium, the left-hander from Modesto, Calif., has 108 strikeouts and just 44 walks in 112.2 innings in the circle.
"My walks are down because I'm more confident in my stuff," she said. "I'm just better this season. I just have better stuff, more confidence, and I'm more prepared."
Coming out of high school, Roelling wasn't highly recruited, she said, and she signed with California, where she pitched 133.0 innings, struck out a team-high 101 batters and walked 63 (also a team high). She then transferred to Georgia and started 25 games, throwing 160.2 innings.
"I came into last year a little timid and a little scared, because I would go after every game, but I was also scared because every time I threw it over the plate, it felt like it got hit out," said Roelling, who surrendered 28 home runs last season. "It was almost like, if I throw it over the plate, they're going to hit it out. If I don't throw a strike, I'm going to walk them.
"I was riding this fine life of not having this much confidence in my stuff. But I also didn't have the stuff that I have this year."
Roelling is a different pitcher now, thanks to a lot of work over the past two seasons with pitching coach Chelsea Wilkinson, a former All-American pitcher for the Bulldogs who ranks in the top 10 in every meaningful pitching category in program history. Roelling said her rise ball is a much more effective pitch now than it was a year ago.
"I jumped my rise from like two inches of break to seven inches," she said.
Last week at No. 1 Oklahoma, Roelling said she threw a rise ball that "missed" and accidentally went right down the middle. But because the batter was expecting it to move so much more than it did, she swung and missed.
"I'm able to do that now with the breaks that I have. Do I want to do that? No. But am I grateful that I was able to do it and get a swing and a miss? Yes," she said. "I just like being able to keep getting better each year. In pitching, it's hard to get better each year, and you kind of get more known each year, too. There's more film on you, and people have machines now set up to your exact pitch tables, so you have to enhance yourself each year."
Wilkinson, Roelling said, "has completely transformed me into a whole different pitcher, and I'm so grateful for that."
In last weekend's series against the power-packed Sooners, who lead the nation with a team batting average of .401 and with 169 home runs, Roelling pitched all of game two, a 3-1 Oklahoma win, and pitched 2.2 innings of relief in game three, which the Sooners won 6-5 to sweep the series. Roelling had pitched in big games before, but this opportunity felt different, she said.
"I was telling the girls right before I got my chance to pitch in the second game, I was like, the little girl in me is screaming right now. It was like, I'm in one of the biggest stages of college softball, and I'm getting to do it," she said. "We didn't win, but I still felt like I learned a lot and I did the thing. I was just so grateful, and it was so much fun. The whole experience was amazing.
"Even though we lost, I just didn't take it as a loss. I just took it as, I got to experience that."
Those moments are part of why she came to Georgia, to play with a great team against some of the best competition in the country. Now, the Bulldogs will wrap up their regular season against the Gators starting Thursday, and then head to the SEC tournament in Lexington, Ky., next week.
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files.
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