Making the shortlist: UF softball's Skylar Wallace named finalist for Player of the Year

Five days removed from being named the SEC's Player of the Year, Florida's Skylar Wallace will have the opportunity to be named be named USA Softball's Player of the Year, which recognizes the best college softball player in the nation.

Wallace's road to Player of the Year started back in January, when Wallace's name appeared on USA Softball's Player of the Year watch list, which featured 50 players from around the nation − including Florida teammates Charla Echols and Kendra Falby.

Since then, the field has been trimmed three times − first to 25 names, then to 10 and now to three finalists.

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Wallace's name has appeared on the list each time.

The award's three finalists were announced Wednesday morning and featured Wallace, UCLA's Maya Brady and Clemson's Valerie Cagle.

Wallace earned her way onto the short list after leading the nation in slugging with a 1.036 percentage and she also ranks fifth in the country with .460 batting average. The redshirt junior's 19 home runs put her seventh in the country.

Wallace will have an opportunity to add to her resume before the award is announced on May 30 as she and the Gators earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.

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Florida is set to take on Loyola Marymount Friday at 6 p.m. in its first game at Stanford's Regional.