Takeaways from Florida baseball's first fall scrimmage

Story by Hunter DeLauder

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — After Mother Nature dampened UF baseball’s first practice on Monday, the Florida Gators re-took the field on Tuesday for the second day of fall ball and played their opening scrimmage. Team Orange defeated team Blue 5-1 in a modified six-inning exhibition that only went 5.5 innings due to an in-game injury that cut the game short.

Like most intersquad scrimmages, the goal was to get as many people live-game reps in the field, on the mound and at the plate. The Florida Gators used 19 players: nine on blue, 10 on orange (used two DHs).

Of those players, Blake Brookins and Ole Miss transfer Ethan Surowiec led the way for team Orange. Brookins, a sophomore from Palmetto Bay, Fla., planned to redshirt a year ago before having to burn his extra year of eligibility due to how banged up Florida was down the stretch. He was thrust into a critical role against Alabama and went 3-for-10 with two doubles and two runs scored.

Brookins went 2-for-3 with an opposite-field two-run home run, a double and two RBIs.

Meanwhile, Surowiec, who transferred from Ole Miss to Florida this offseason, had a breakout summer. He was named Northwoods League MVP after slashing .387/.475/.779 with a 1.255 OPS in 53 games. During that stretch, he hit 17 home runs with 68 RBIs, nearly securing the league’s triple crown.

Not only did Surowiec go 2-for-3 with an RBI in Florida’s scrimmage, but looked super comfortable as well at third base, making a number of plays where he showed off his big arm and fielding ability. The most notable was a short chop on the infield, where Surowiec was able to gather it in time and deliver a strike to first for the out.  

Six pitchers threw on Tuesday — three on each side — with a max length of two innings or until said players’ pitch count was hit. Blue team pitchers were RHP Jackson Barberi, RHP Notre Dame transfer Ricky Reeth and RHP Joshua Whritenour, while team Orange would throw UCF transfer RHP Russell Sandefer, Hawaii transfer RHP Cooper Walls and Northwest Nazarene graduate transfer LHP Ernesto Lugo-Canhola. Barberi and Sandefer started for their respective teams.

Everyone on the mound had their moments, but the arms that stood out the most were Whritenour and Walls. Whritenour, a redshirt freshman, missed all of the 2025 season after suffering an apparent arm injury during an outing on Nov. 13, 2024, and would soon undergo Tommy John surgery to repair the injured UCL.

For his first time facing live at-bats, the second-year pitcher from Tampa looked sharp. In his two innings of work, Whritenour retired all six batters he faced, struck out two and gave up zero hits or runs. The fastball looked lively, sitting 95-96 mph and topping out at 97.

Conversely, Walls also showed out on the mound for team Orange. Standing at 6-foot-5, 215 pounds, Walls comes over from Hawaii, where he won Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year. In 2025, Walls pitched 60.1 innings with a 3-3 overall record, a 3.73 ERA and a 45-to-15 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Walls started 13 of the 15 games he appeared in, so he could be in contention for the third starting spot in the weekend rotation.

During Tuesday’s scrimmage, Walls threw two shutout innings, gave up zero runs or hits and struck out two. Similar to Whritenour, Walls sat 95-96 mph and topped out at 97.

Florida Gators injury news

Lugo-Canchola left the game after being struck with a line drive on his throwing hand. No updates at this time.

More scrimmage notes

• Transfer catcher Karson Bowen (TCU) and OF Jaden Bastian (Jacksonville) did not throw or play on Tuesday.
• Cade Kurland looked good at second base. First live action for him since suffering a season-ending shoulder injury back in March.
• Barberi topped 98 mph but had trouble at times finishing hitters when ahead in the count. He was the only pitcher to hit his pitch count and not finish an inning because of it.
• Brendan Lawson played the whole game at shortstop for Team Blue. Made a throwing error in the first inning. 
• Ivy League Player of the Year and Columbia transfer Sam Miller looked the part at shortstop.