Florida baseball’s latest commitment in the transfer portal is UCF RHP Russell Sandefer, who marks the third addition this offseason and the second pitcher. The 6’1, 180-pound round rising junior will have two years of eligibility remaining.
After starting the 2025 season out of the Knights’ bullpen, Sandefer worked his way into a starting role in the weekend rotation, posting a 3.35 ERA across 18 appearances including six starts. Sandefer posted a 49-19 strikeout to walk ratio in 50.2 innings pitched. The Tampa, Florida native pitched at least four innings in each of his six starts while logging five plus innings in four of six. Sandefer posted excellent outings against NCAA Tournament teams like Kansas State, TCU, and Oklahoma State down the stretch.
As a reliever, Sandefer allowed just four earned runs in 20 innings pitched, equating to a 1.80 ERA. Nine of Sandefer’s 12 appearances out of the bullen were scoreless outings which included games against Miami, Stetson, USF, and Houston.
Sanderfer started his collegiate career at the Division two level at Saint Leo University where he posted a 3.35 ERA in 45.2 innings during his rookie campaign.
According to Jacob Rudner of Baseball America, Sandefer has a three-pitch mix which includes a gyro slider that drew a 47% whiff rate. Sandefer also throws a changeup to lefties only that he can put guys away with. His fastball averaged 92.6 MPH but there’s room for increased velocity this offseason as Sandefer got up to 96 MPH last season.
Perhaps the most intriguing part of Sandefer’s skillset is his ability to keep the ball in the ballpark as he allowed just two home runs in over 50 innings pitched with UCF. These numbers are similar to Florida’s freshman phenom Aidan King, who allowed three home runs in 73.1 innings pitched. At Saint Leo’s in 2024, Sandefer allowed four home runs in 45.2 innings. Sandefer doesn’t allow many extra base hits either, giving up just six doubles and two triples in 2025 and seven doubles and one triple in 2024.
Sandefer is Florida’s most praised addition yet as an experienced right hander with decent command and swing and miss stuff. Sandefer most likely projects as a long or middle reliever who is certainly capable of pitching on the weekends. The Gators are aiming to rebuild a pitching staff that has struggled in conference play over the last two seasons. Sandefer joins Notre Dame RHP Ricky Reeth as pitcher additions thus far, but it’s unlikely the Gators are done here.
Stay tuned at Gator Country for the most up to date information on Florida’s transfer portal activity.