Even ESPN’s Holly Rowe has her limits. During the network’s coverage of the NCAA softball super regional between Florida and Texas Tech in Gainesville this weekend, things got out of control. What was supposed to be an exciting postseason softball game just turned into a nightmare as huge swarms of lovebugs took over Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.

For Holly Rowe, this wasn’t just another story. It was the kind of on‑the‑ground, body‑on‑the‑line assignment that usually comes with football season: long hours, sun‑baked fields, and screaming crowds. But now, in late May, she was sweating through the same grind in the middle of a softball super regional, battling insects instead of tailgaters. That’s the reality of an ESPN veteran’s off‑season: the travel schedule doesn’t stop when the pigskin does.

“Dear Lovebugs-we are not fans,” Holly Rowe posted on X. “Softball is always hot and dirty-I fight thru it because I love it so much…but this make break me.”

That’s from a veteran reporter who has covered practically every sporting environment imaginable over the last three decades. And she’s admitting this one was testing her patience in real time. She also added a clip of the insects swarming around people during the broadcast, showing the reality of a softball coverage in May.

People sitting at home watching the event on the screen see sunshine, energy, packed stadiums, and postseason drama. The people working the event are usually fighting heat exhaustion and battling airborne insect invasions that arrive in the millions. Still, Holly Rowe showed up and handled business anyway.

Holly Rowe was part of ESPN’s broadcast team for the deciding super regional matchup between Florida and Texas Tech alongside Beth Mowins, Jessica Mendoza, and Michelle Smith. While fans were focused on the action between the Gators and Red Raiders, she was dealing with a massive swarm on the field. During the first inning, she gave an update from the sidelines that showed just how bad the conditions were.

“I can tell you there’s an absolute swarm down here, and it is an issue for players,” she reported. “I saw the players for Florida putting on bug spray, but I can tell you it’s not working. I also tried to put some on, but they’re landing all over me. Kaitlyn Terry was really bothered by them initially. I haven’t seen the bugs like going in their faces right now, but it is a problem.”

Imagine trying to throw high-pressure postseason pitches while bugs are flying around your face every few seconds. And yet, this is classic postseason softball. Florida is more used to dealing with lovebugs than visiting teams. Residents across the Gulf states see these insects every spring and late summer. 

According to the University of Florida experts, they’re harmless to humans and pets. They don’t bite or sting. They’re mostly just incredibly annoying. Still, that lovebug invasion aside, Holly Rowe probably still loved every second of the game underneath the frustration. That’s who she is, and some stories explain that.

Holly Rowe once ended a relationship over Pat Summitt

If anybody still questions how deeply Holly Rowe cares about sports, competition, and the people inside those worlds, she answered that with a confession she dropped last November. Speaking at the Little Rock Touchdown Club, she revealed she once broke up with her boyfriend of four years because of comments he made about legendary Tennessee coach Pat Summitt. According to her, the breaking point came during the 2012 ESPYS.

“I had a really hot boyfriend,” she confessed. “And he was Mr. Switzerland, bodybuilder. We dated for four years… And Pat Summitt had just gotten this award – the Arthur Ashe Courage Award – because she had just been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. And I’m in the audience, and I’m just bawling at the ESPYS. 

“And he asked me, ‘What’s wrong with you? She’s just a coach.’ And so we broke up. I gave up Mr. Switzerland because of Pat Summitt. This is a true story.”

That story tells you she’s somebody who truly believes sports matter, including the human stories inside them and the impact coaches and athletes have on people. She was even managing her 8-week-old son during a 5-hour shift. That’s why she’s survived in the industry for so long.

Holly Rowe has been working full-time with ESPN since 1998 and has become one of the network’s most respected figures. During football season, she’s one of the familiar faces on ESPN’s biggest Saturday Night Football broadcasts alongside Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit. Thankfully for her, college football in the fall usually comes without giant Florida bug swarms.