Former Florida Gators right-handed starting pitcher Cooper Walls found a new home with the Georgia Bulldogs last Friday through the NCAA transfer portal.
Walls joined the Gators last offseason as a transfer from the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors after being named the 2025 Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year behind a 3.73 ERA and a 45-to-15 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He appeared in 15 games with 13 starts, compiling a 3.73 ERA across 60.1 innings, while striking out 45 batters against 15 walks.
Kevin O’Sullivan slotted Walls into the No. 3 spot in the weekend rotation after an impressive fall, only to be replaced by Russell Sandefer two series into SEC play due to consistently subpar performances. The sophomore’s peak with the Gators came in his debut appearance, when he threw 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball against the UAB Blazers, allowing four hits and a walk while striking out four.
That would be the last time Walls lasted more than 4 1/3 frames, while his ERA ballooned from 1.69 after that outing to over seven by season’s end. The final nail in the coffin was the regional elimination game against the Troy Trojans, in which he lasted just one inning, coughing up two runs on two hits and two walks while striking out a pair in Florida’s final game of the spring.
Wall’s final line for his lone season in Gainesville was a 3-3 record and a 7.17 ERA over 37.2 innings of work, allowing 53 hits — including three home runs — and 12 walks, while striking out 37 and hitting six batters. The Gators went 9-8 in his 17 appearances, both as a starter and in relief, that he made this spring.
The San Diego, California, native joined fellow right-handers Matthew Jenkins, Cooper Moss and Christian Rodriguez, along with left-hander McCall Biemiller, in the transfer portal after the season ended. Infielder Kolt Myers also sought greener pastures through college baseball’s de facto free agency system.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Former Florida starting RHP heads to Georgia via transfer portal
Reporting by Adam Dubbin, Gators Wire / Gators Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Adam Dubbin, Gators Wire | USA TODAY Network
