While the Florida Gators’ baseball season is still going, the college baseball transfer portal opened on June 3rd, which means the Gators are looking for potential additions to next year’s roster.
Kevin O’Sullivan has already landed two infielders in Texas Tech’s Landon Stripling and Jacksonville’s Justin Nadeau, who was on campus yesterday.
TTU’s Landon Stripling
Texas Tech infielder Landon Stripling batted .253 with four home runs and 20 RBI across 33 games including 24 starts in his freshman campaign. He also scored 15 runs and walked 17 times in 117 plate appearances.
Stripling spent time as a first baseman and a designated hitter with the Red Raiders.
The 6’0, 200-pound infielder did not have much swing and miss in his bat during his first collegiate season, striking out on just 12.1% of his at bats. For comparison, Florida’s 2024 squad is striking out on 27.1% of their at bats, so you can see why Stripling might be of interest to Kevin O’Sullivan.
As part of the 2023 high school class, Stripling was the 76th overall recruit and 8th in the state of Georgia. Born in Winter Haven, Florida, Stripling is the nephew of current big leaguer Ross Stripling, who is a starting pitcher for the Oakland Athletics.
Stripling is a draft eligible sophomore headed to Gainesville with years of eligibility remaining.
JU’s Justin Nadeau
The Gators hosted Jacksonville infielder Justin Nadeau on a visit yesterday before he committed to Florida on social media.
“I’m excited and blessed to announce I will be furthering my baseball career at the University of Florida,” Nadeau wrote in his commitment post.
Nadeau just finished his sophomore season at Jacksonville, where he batted .395 with 28 RBI, 36 runs, and one home run in 29 starts with the Dolphins. The 6’0, 185-pound infielder also swiped 11 bags on 12 attempts.
In his freshman campaign, Nadeau started all 49 games for the Dolphins, earning ASUN All-Freshman Team for batting .297 with 17 multi-hit games. He tied for third in hits and fourth in on-base percentage and was the first JU freshman to reach the 30 RBI mark since 2010.
Nadeau started 47 games at second base and two at first base in 2023. He played mostly second base in 2024 as well, including against Florida where he recorded two hits, a run, and an RBI in a 7-6 victory over the Gators.
Defensively, Nadeau committed 10 errors on 219 chances as a freshman. Those numbers were quickly cleaned up in year two, where the second baseman committed just one error on 100 chances, a fielding percentage of .990.
Nadeau has two years of eligibility remaining.