Three Gators Selected to USA Baseball Collegiate National Team
Florida baseball pitchers are taking their talents from Condron Family Ballpark to the national stage.
Right-handed pitchers Aidan King, Jackson Barberi and Joshua Whritenour secured spots on the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team roster Sunday. With three representatives, Florida leads all schools, as the team heads to Taiwan to compete for the inaugural World Collegiate Baseball Championship from July 11-15.
The trio joins a 28-man roster spread across 21 schools and five conferences, including 15 SEC athletes, who participated in 11 days of workouts, practices and scrimmages across North Carolina and Virginia to make the cut.
“The talent at training camp was incredible and made this decision difficult, but we are confident that these 28 players will represent the U.S. well in our quest to win a gold medal,” said Eric Campbell, USA Baseball’s General Manager of Professional and Collegiate National Teams
During training camp, the Gators pitchers combined for a 0.82 ERA, striking out 13 batters while allowing a run, five hits and four walks across 11 innings to each earn their first national team appearance.
After participating in the 2025 training camp, King earned a spot in 2026 after pitching five scoreless innings in his two starts, compiling nine strikeouts, second most on the team, and allowing four hits and one walk.
Barberi tied for the most mound appearances at camp, tossing three innings out of the bullpen across three games, limiting opponents to one run and one hit. Also making three relief appearances, Whritenour pitched three shutout, no-hit innings, sitting down three batters and walking two.
The first of the three Gators to re-sign, King announced his return June 22 after taking SEC Pitcher of the Year and First Team All-SEC honors in 2026. The righty took over the Friday starting slot April 10 against Georgia, fanning six batters while allowing two runs and two hits in 7 2/3 innings.
Across 16 starts, he led Florida with eight wins and a 3.21 ERA across 97 innings. King posted a 92-to-19 strikeouts-to-walks ratio, limiting opponents to a .218 batting average on his way to earning finalist for Baseball America’s and the College Baseball Foundation’s National Pitcher of the Year awards.
Two days after King, Barberi re-signed June 24 after serving as Florida’s relief ace in 2026, recording 11 scoreless appearances. In 37 1/3 innings pitched, the sophomore racked up 55 strikeouts while walking 17 batters. He posted a 5-2 record, 3.18 ERA and logged eight no-hit outings of at least one inning.
Whritenour announced his return June 26 after making his collegiate debut as a redshirt freshman in 2026. As the primary closer, the Tampa native led the Gators with seven saves, ranking sixth in the SEC. In his 25 relief appearances, he registered 49 strikeouts against 14 walks across 36 2/3 innings.
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