Florida’s first scrimmage of preseason camp took place on Friday afternoon inside Condron Ballpark. The Gators started with a warmup / stretch at 2:30 p.m. followed by a scrimmage at 4:30 p.m.
Here’s Gator Country’s insider notes from Friday’s four inning scrimmage.
– Brody Donay started the scrimmage off with a bang, smashing a three-run home run over the bullpen in left field against RHP Liam Peterson. One clear adjustment Donay made this offseason was widening his stance. The hope is that he creates more contact, as his raw power isn’t going anywhere regardless of his stance.
– RHP Liam Peterson made the start for team blue. It looked as if Peterson was going to cruise through the first inning after retiring the first two batters in four pitches including a three-pitch strikeout of Blake Cyr. Peterson allowed a first pitch single to Ty Evans and walked the next batter, which led to Donay’s three run home run. Peterson allowed one run in his second inning, but it was after a series of sloppy defensive plays. Peterson allowed four runs, three hits, and two walks in his two innings pitched. The stuff was there for Peterson, but he let his command get away from him on two batters, which proved costly during Florida’s first preseason scrimmage.
– Brendan Lawson played first base during the scrimmage. He primarily played third base during fall camp but has made the switch to first base ahead of the 2025 season. Florida wants his bat in the lineup, and first base makes the most sense with Luke Heyman catching and Brody Donay at DH. He’s expected to compete for the starting job.
– Texas Tech transfer Landon Stripling played third base for team Orange and impressed defensively turning a double play and making a silky-smooth play on a slow roller down the line. Stripling probably won’t be an opening day starter, but he’ll have an early opportunity to showcase his skills.
– RHP Alex Philpott was the most impressive pitcher on Friday evening. The 6’6 sophomore tossed two scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and one walk. Philpott was sitting 93-94 MPH on his fastball, which is a spike from last season. Philpott hit his spots and created weak contact. Philpott could be one of the first bullpen arms Florida goes to this season, or as their closer.
– Jacksonville transfer Justin Nadeau had an impressive scrimmage, recording an RBI single while playing sound defense. Nadeau displayed serious speed as he legged out a relatively routine ground ball to shortstop. Nadeau will provide Florida with great infield depth in 2025 as he was a third team All-ASUN player last season, sporting a .395 batting average with JU.
– Luke Heyman and freshman Kolt Myers also recorded RBI singles.
FINAL THOUGHTS
– It was a relatively sloppy scrimmage for the Gators, which is to be expected given it was the first scrimmage of preseason. The pitchers struggled to throw strikes as starters Liam Peterson and Pierce Coppola walked two batters each in their two innings pitched. LHP Frank Menendez also walked a pair of batters.
– Defense was very much hit or miss on Friday. Florida did turn two double plays but there were a series of sloppy plays.
– Florida’s depth was felt on Friday. Justin Nadeau and Landon Stripling were guys that impressed at the plate and in the field. Neither are considered starters as of now, but that speaks to the depth this roster has in 2025.