The Florida Gators have named sophomore right hander Cooper Walls their Sunday starter for opening weekend, Gator Country has learned.
Walls rounds out Florida’s weekend rotation, joining junior right-hander Liam Peterson on Friday night and sophomore right-hander Aidan King on Saturday.
Transferring from Hawaii this offseason, Walls earned 2025 Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year by delivering a 3.73 ERA and 45-to-15 strikeout to walk ratio across 60 1/3 innings pitched.
“When we’ve been really good, obviously we’ve always had a good number one and number two, but the real difference maker is that third guy, because that’s usually the deciding factor of who’s going to win the series,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said on the Sunday starter.
“Cooper Walls, you are going to hear an awful lot about him,” O’Sullivan added. “Suprise is not the right word, because we wouldn’t have recruited him, but his stuff has certainly taken a step forward.”
Walls sat in the low 90s with his fastball at Hawaii, below the typical SEC velocity, and it didn’t generate much swing-and-miss. Still, O’Sullivan saw the upside in the California native and valued his production as a true freshman.
Now, Walls is sitting in the mid-90s, touching 98 mph with his heater while generating more strikeouts and maintaining his command on the mound.
“We get caught up in the radar gun and for me personally, I was like ‘we have to value performance as well, we need high performers, and he was a high performer’,” O’Sullivan said on Walls. “He comes here, he gets in better shape, things just start maturing for him. He goes from 90-92 to 94-98, and it’s all strikes.”
Against an Oregon State ballclub that finished 48-16-1 and earned the No.8 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament a year ago, Walls tossed five shutout innings, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out five.
Walls limited damage last year by surrendering just seven doubles and two home runs, a trend that’s carried over to Gainesville.
“He’s been awesome. He’s developed a lot since he got here,” junior right hander Luke McNeillie said on Walls. “I think the main thing for him was just his physical aspect of the game. I mean, when you have a velo jump like he had from last spring to what he has now, it’s like, definitely a physical maturity of himself. And I think the fall was just like, he’s always going to strike throw, and threw strikes this fall, but once he got comfortable with the physical jumps that he made, I think it’s a big jump for him.”
Few programs feel better about their Friday and Saturday starters than Florida. With Walls now slotted into the Sunday role, the Gators have assembled a weekend rotation capable of matching up with anyone on their schedule.
It’s a significant opportunity for Walls, who looks to prove his value in the SEC.
“If your third guy is better than theirs, and you can split one of the first two, or win the first two and get a sweep, which is really hard to do in this league, that third guy is really valuable. He’s been extremely impressive,” O’Sullivan said.
It’s rare for a team to finish the season with its Opening Weekend rotation still intact, whether due to injuries or inconsistent production. Walls has earned the first opportunity to lock down the Sunday role with an impressive showing this offseason, but don’t be surprised if there’s some trial and error as the Gators sort through their pitching staff in the weeks ahead. The same could be said for much of the roster.