Florida Baseball: Takeaways from Week 2 of fall ball

Story by Hunter DeLauder

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida baseball concluded its second week of fall practices with a rain-soaked Sunday scrimmage. It was another strong showing from this young Gators team, who continue to find their footing ahead of the first fall exhibition against Jacksonville University on Oct. 31.

Week 1 of fall ball is all about easing everyone back into their normal routines and shaking off any offseason rust, which in turn centered around the pitching, keeping the offense at bay. Not surprisingly, as it’s the first time many players on the roster are seeing real college at-bats. And for any returning players who did not play summer ball, it’s a chance to get readjusted.  

But the bats woke up this week in a big way, with multiple hitters staying hot from the previous week and new faces starting to emerge onto the scene. It was also the first time that any of the Gators’ power arms — RHPs Liam Peterson and Aidan King — took the mound this fall.

Scrimmage 4 Notes

Florida’s fourth fall scrimmage had the most action we’ve seen from both teams at the plate and on the field. Right out of the gate, freshman Jacob Kendall robbed Caden McDonald of a home run with a SportsCenter Top 10 worthy catch, reaching arm’s length over the left field wall to make the catch.

McDonald would find redemption in his next at-bat with a towering home run into the left-field bullpen. McDonald is likely to emerge as a two-way player this season, getting time as a regular designated hitter and slotting as one of Florida’s top relief pitchers. Last season, McDonald made 20 appearances on the mound, threw a total of 28 innings with a 5.14 ERA and a 29-to-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

​Freshman Colton Schwarz, brother of former UF great J.J. Schwarz, also launched his first home run of the fall.  

Even though TCU transfer Karson Bowen is going to be the opening day starter behind the dish, barring any setback, the race for backup catcher is heating up with transfers Cole Stanford and AJ Malzone. Malzone carried his strong scrimmage three performance into the fourth exhibition, where he went 2-for-3 with two RBIs.

​Meanwhile, Stanford, a Lenoir-Rhyne graduate transfer, went 2-for-2 with a double and two RBIs. Last season, Stanford earned the honors of DII All-American after slashing .393/.480/.757 with 20 home runs. In his three seasons behind the plate, Stanford carried a .985 fielding percentage in over 1,000 defensive opportunities. From what we’re hearing, Stanford has the early lead over Malzone.

​Scrimmage 5 Notes

​Headlining Florida’s fifth scrimmage was Peterson taking the mound for the first time. The returning ace is looking to build off an 8-4 year a season ago, where Peterson finished with a 4.28 ERA, a 96-to-32 strikeout-to-walk ratio across 69 ⅓ innings pitched. He also worked a 12.5 strikeouts-per-nine-innings, which was the third-highest in program history. During his fall debut, Peterson pitched one inning, gave up one run and struck out none, while sitting 97-98 with his fastball and topping out at 99mph.

​His one run allowed came at the hands of Brendan Lawson’s opposite-field home run. A battle between potential future No. 1 overall picks for the 2026 and 2027 MLB Drafts, Peterson had Lawson down 0-2 in the count and challenged him with a 98-mph fastball at the top of the zone. Lawson got around to it and blasted it into the visiting team’s bullpen.

​Outfielder Kyle Jones made his fall debut at the plate last Tuesday, going 2-for-2. Florida’s projected starting centerfielder has looked good in his short time back since suffering a season-ending shoulder injury four games into last year. Jones has already shown off the leather multiple times in center, most notably a leaping grab at the warning track.

​Jones has been fully cleared, but the team is still taking certain precautions with him, including no head-first sliding and sliding feet first when needed.

​“I’m fully good. They’re still being cautious about my sliding so, like sometimes they’ll want me to peel off, or only feet first, and then in the spring,” Jones said. “I’ll be able to dive headfirst.”

Wrapping up scrimmage No. 5 was Ethan Surowiec, who blasted a go-ahead two-run home run off of McDonald that made it 3-2 for team Blue. The Ole Miss transfer went 2-for-2 with two RBIs, with a 106mph exit velo home run.

Scrimmage 6-8 Notes

​After no scrimmages on Wednesday or Thursday, the Gators were back on the field for the three straight days of scrimmages Friday-Sunday to close out the second week of fall practice.

Friday’s sixth fall scrimmage was the first time Jacksonville transfer Jaden Bastian participated in full capacity. He had been kept out with a minor shoulder injury he suffered during an outfield collision. Bastian comes into Gainesville as the No. 25-ranked transfer according to Baseball America after appearing in 55 games, hitting .302 with 64 hits, 33 RBIs, 11 home runs, and an ASUN-leading 36 stolen bases in 2025. He is projected as a starting outfielder here at UF.

​While it was minor, Bastian went 1-for-2, where he showed off his speed to beat out an infield single. Bastian followed that up with a 2-for-3 day with an RBI on Saturday.

​Like Jones, Senior Cade Kurland was also working his way back onto the field after suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in 2025. Scrimmage six was Kurland’s second full game back, and to this point, he has not skipped a beat. On Tuesday, Kurland went 1-for-3 with an RBI and followed that up in a big way with a three-run home run on Friday. After a quiet Saturday, Kurland went 1-for-1 with two walks and an RBI on Sunday. Along with his hot bat, Kurland has looked really smooth at second base, even gunning a runner out trying to score on a base hit.

​For the first time all week, the pitchers looked in control again. That started with Peterson, who re-took the bump on Saturday and was much more comfortable. Peterson threw two innings, struck out and walked two hitters each, but did not allow any walks or runs. RHP Billy Barlow also had his best of three outings so far this fall, throwing two shutout innings, giving up just one run and more importantly, had zero walks.

​Redshirt freshman RHP Joshua Whritenour continues to be the pitcher for Florida this preseason. Whritenour went two innings, retiring all six hitters he faced with two strikeouts. That is now 18-straight hitters Whritenour has sat down in a row through his three appearances.

​The only offensive standout from scrimmage seven was Surowiec, who went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. He followed that up with another 2-for-2 Sunday with a double and an RBI.

​A combination of poor weather and possibly too much time spent at Midtown following Florida football’s win over Miss St Saturday led to a sloppy scrimmage eight. Pitchers had absolutely no control over the zone, resulting in an unofficial count of more than eight free passes through 5.5 innings played.

​The game ended in a 3-3 tie, but trailing 3-2 in the fourth, freshman Nic Partridge’s RBI double knotted the game up, before both offenses hit a standstill the remainder of the game.

​Other Week 2 takeaways

​* Freshman Cash Strayer keeps getting a more predominant role at the top of the lineup and playing the entirety of games in the outfield.

* Kolt Myers is playing well at shortstop, as he continues to fight for the backup spot. Turned a nice 6-4-3 DP in the fifth scrimmage on Tuesday.

* Hayden Yost broke his metal bat, came back out with a new one to finish the at-bat and doubled on the next pitch.

* Cooper Walls looked human for the first time on Friday: 3IP, 3ER, 2H, 3BB, 2HBP, 2K.

* Brendan Lawson continues to get time at shortstop but keeps making errors. He committed his third error of the fall at that position. However, Lawson is starting to heat up at the plate.

* Landon Stripling has looked good at the plate so far this fall.

* Jacob Kendall was spectacular in left field this week. Made multiple web gem plays in all the scrimmages. Went 2-for-2 at the plate on Saturday.

* Transfer LHP Ernesto Lugo-Canchola returned to the mound Sunday, went 1.0IP, 0H, 0R, 1K, 0BB.