GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Ethan Surowiec had just 16 at-bats as a freshman at Ole Miss last season and almost did not enter the transfer portal.
Yet he’s getting major attention across the country, including being ranked as the preseason No. 5 first baseman in the Southeastern Conference and No. 22 nationally by D1Baseball.com.
But why? Well, it is simple.
“He certainly went off to the Northwoods League and was tremendous and had as good a summer as anybody in the entire country,” Florida baseball coach Kevin O’Sullivan said.
In the Northwoods League, a collegiate summer wood-bat league with teams spread across the upper Midwest and Ontario, Canada, Surowiec made his mark.
In 221 at-bats over the summer with the Duluth (Minn.) Huskies, Surowiec slashed .385/.472/.792, while leading the league with 20 home runs and 74 RBI. His slugging percentage also led the league, and his batting average ranked second.
His performance was so impressive that Surowiec, a native of Gulfport, Miss., was named league MVP as a member of a Huskies team that fell in the championship.
While in the midst of league play, Surowiec made a decision that would change the trajectory of his collegiate career.
“I didn’t enter the portal till probably the last day of it,” Surowiec said. “I didn’t have any intentions because I didn’t think I had any stats to back it up. As soon as I started going off a little bit in summer ball, I was like, talking to my agent, ‘you know this is a possibility.’ And I ended up doing it.”
Ethan Surowiec carried his hot bat from the Northwoods League last summer to fall ball with the Gators. (Photo: Morgan Hurd/UAA Communications)
Florida, which saw him during the recruiting trail as a high school prospect (No. 89 overall, No. 7 third baseman, No. 3 in Mississippi), quickly made contact. Surowiec says he committed to the Gators “two days in.”
Despite his strong start to summer ball and his prowess as a high school recruit, Surowiec says he received little interest in the portal but found his fit in Gainesville. The Gators open the season on Friday night against UAB.
“I love the coaches,” Surowiec said. “I remember my first phone call with Sully, it just fired me up. I knew this was going to be the choice for me.”
After being labeled D1Baseball’s Summer Breakout Prospect, the projected corner infield starter for Florida followed up his great summer with a great fall.
After trading in red and blue for orange and blue, he excelled in fall ball wearing a Gators jersey, so much so that D1Baseball again took notice, naming him a Fall Ball All-Star.
But with all the offseason and preseason accolades, what Surowiec is truly looking forward to is the real thing.
“I’m just ready to be with this team and excited to go win a lot of games,” he said.
You won’t find Surowiec boasting, showboating and being totally outspoken.
He says he’s “more of a quieter guy that leads by example.”
What isn’t quiet, though, are his swings in the batter’s box.
“I’d say my best part of myself is probably my bat,” Surowiec said. “I think I’m going to hit, be an all-around hitter, not just home runs or not just power, but also have a good average. And maybe not steal as many bases, but I think my role will be scoring guys in times of need, like runners on, I need to hit a ball in the gap and score them.”
Ethan Surowiec is ready to make his UF debut. (Photo: Madilyn Gemme/UAA Communications)
Something else Surowiec is also looking forward to is playing the field for the Gators.
In 11 games with the Rebels, he was a designated hitter, where he slashed .375/.524/.750 with two home runs and eight RBI. He says that as a corner infielder, he will play good defense and has worked hard in the summer to do so.
Surowiec began playing baseball when he was 4 and practiced constantly with his dad, whom he calls his role model, to get better every day.
An Atlanta Braves fan, Surowiec’s favorite player and one he emulates his game after is third baseman Austin Riley, also a Mississippi native, who was committed to Mississippi State before being drafted out of high school.
Some may think Surowiec was a diamond-in-the-rough addition for Florida, but he believes the staff knew what they were getting when they signed him.
“I’d honestly say yes,” he said. “But I gotta strive for more. Like, I want to have aspirations of going to Omaha, winning a national championship, and for you to do that, you have to have All-Americans and stuff like that. So maybe they didn’t see an All-American in me or a first-team All-SEC player, but ultimately that’s my goal. And if I work really hard, those goals can come to fruition.”
O’Sullivan would agree.
“He was a good player before that [Northwoods League performance],” O’Sullivan said.