Report: Florida baseball lands transfer commitment from Southern Miss star Hurston Waldrep

Florida baseball got some good news via the transfer portal on Thursday. The Gators reportedly landed a big-time commitment to bolster its pitching staff.

Former Southern Miss pitcher Hurston Waldrep is heading to Gainesville, according to D1Baseball’s Kendall Rogers. Waldrep played a big role for the Golden Eagles in 2022, totaling 140 strikeouts in 90 innings en route to a 6-2 record on the bump. He took the lone loss in Southern Miss’ NCAA Tournament Regional round against LSU, which the Golden Eagles eventually defeated to advance to the Super Regional round of the tournament. Overall, Southern Miss went 47-19 overall and 23-7 in Conference USA play.

Now, Waldrep is getting ready to join a Florida team that 42-24 overall and 15-15 in SEC action in 2022. The Gators saw their season come to an end against Oklahoma in the Regional.

Multiple Florida baseball players enter the transfer portal

Although Florida made a big splash in the portal on Thursday, the Gators have seen their share of players enter this offseason.

So far, seven players have hit the portal, including infielder Nick Armstrong — who entered on June 24, according to Gators Online’s Nick de la Torre. Catcher Mac Gusette, infielder Jorge De Goti outfielder Corey Robinson and pitchers Timmy Manning, Nick Pogue and Karl Hartman also have hit the portal this year.

But Florida landed some more transfer commitments, as well, with Mercer transfer outfielder Colby Thomas and former Coastal Carolina infielder Dale Thomas announcing their decisions to join the Gators. Now, they’ll also have Waldrep coming in, to try and help offset the losses to the portal this year.

Wyatt Langford is still in town, though, and received quite an honor this week. He received All-American recognition by D1Baseball after a strong 2022 season in which he tied the Gators’ home run record.