Gators land a huge commitment from the transfer portal
Thursday was a huge day for the Florida Gators football program but Kevin O’Sullivan didn’t want to be left out. O’Sullivan secured a commitment from Southern Mississippi right-hander, Hurston Waldrep.
The Florida Gators hadn’t used the transfer portal much since its inception. However, Waldrep makes the third commitment Florida has secured this offseason. The Gators landed a commitment from Coastal Carolina infielder Dale Thomas as well as a commitment from Mercer outfielder Colby Thomas.
Waldrep, who graduated from Thomasville in 2020, was chosen as part of the final 26-man national team squad that will travel to Haarlem, Netherlands, to compete on July 8-16. Team USA will play against Japan on Saturday, July 9 at 8 a.m. He will get to know his future teammate, Wyatt Langford, who will also play with Team USA this summer.
Waldrep’s two years at Southern Mississippi
As a sophomore in 2022, Waldrep moved from the closer role to a full-time starter. He appeared in 17 games, all starts, posting a 3.20 ERA. He struck out 140 batters to just 33 walks in 90 innings on the season. D1Baseball.com named him a Third Team All-American.
2021 (Fr.): Appeared in 11 games, all in relief. He threw 16 1/3 innings and posted a 1-0 record with three saved. Waldrep fanned 16 and walked eight on the season. He did not give up an earned run over his first five outings, spanning 7 1/3 innings.
His longest outing was 3.2 at Louisiana Tech. He egistered the final two saves in the postseason with a two-out performance, including one strikeout, to defeat Louisiana Tech in the C-USA Championship and a 1.2 inning outing in a win over Florida State in the NCAA Oxford Regional. In that game he fanned a pair. Waldrep recorded a season-high three strikeouts against both Rice and Florida Atlantic. He went at least two innings in four outings, including a season-high 3 2/3 at Louisiana Tech (4/17) in which he allowed just one hit and fanned two. Waldrep made the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll for the Spring 2021 semester.
