With fall ball well underway for the Orange & Blue, it is once again time to introduce Florida’s new faces on the diamond. Leading off the 2025 Meet the Gators series are catchers Karson Bowen (TCU), AJ Malzone (Wabash Valley College) and Cole Stanford (Lenoir-Rhyne), all of which transferred to Florida over the summer to reconstruct UF’s 2026 depth chart behind the dish.
 
Karson Bowen
Hailing from Anaheim Hills, Calif., Bowen is slated to wear No. 14 for the Gators. In three seasons at TCU from 2023-25, he slashed .308/.390/.463 backed by 16 home runs, 33 doubles, 112 RBI, 110 runs and 20 steals. The rising senior backstop is coming off a career year in which he was named 2025 Second Team All-Big 12 after hitting .333/.425/.516 with four homers, three triples, 11 doubles, 29 runs and 28 RBI in 45 games (41 starts) for the Horned Frogs. Highly reliable behind the plate, Bowen touts a .990 career fielding percentage.
 
Prior to college, Bowen was a four-year letterwinner at Orange Lutheran High School in California for Head Coach Eric Borba from 2019-2022. As a senior, he batted .321/.424/.469 while tallying two homers, one triple, four doubles, 23 runs, 15 RBI and seven steals in seven tries. That performance earned him first-team all-league honors as well as a Rawlings Gold Glove and the Trinity League Defensive Player of the Year award. As a member of the 2022 class, Bowen ranked as Perfect Game’s No. 89 overall player and No. 8 catcher nationally.

 

KARSON BOWEN TO THE FROGS BULLPEN!

💣💣💣

pic.twitter.com/7mrvmkqG1b

— Texas College Baseball (@TexasCollegeBSB) April 13, 2024

AJ Malzone

Selected to wear No. 28 in Orange & Blue, Malzone comes to Gainesville from the Midwest as a native of Manteno, Ill. Playing his freshman and sophomore seasons at Wabash Valley College in Mount Carmel, Ill., Malzone was named 2025 all-conference and all-region by hitting .347 with career highs in home runs (10), RBI (58), doubles (16), triples (two), slugging percentage (.602), OPS (1.098) and steals (13). He walked more times than he struck out for the second-straight season while earning a Region 24 Gold Glove. In his freshman campaign, Malzone batted .372 with eight homers, nine doubles and 42 RBI on top of a .985 fielding clip.
 
Graduating from St. Rita of Cascia in 2023, Malzone helped the Mustangs to a 27-12 record his senior year. He was tabbed Honorable Mention Preseason All-Region by Perfect Game in consecutive seasons from 2022-23 while collecting a pair of all-tournament team nods at PG events in 2022. Entering college, Malzone was ranked by PG as the No. 611 recruit in the class including the No. 23 catcher in Illinois.

 

AJ Malzone SO @WVCBaseball

Love the rhythmic left handed swing of the sophomore backstop. Real bat speed, barrel skills and juice here. Rockets this back thru the box. #PGJC pic.twitter.com/3IXCJ9kAWO

— USA Stadium (@USAStadium) February 15, 2025

Cole Stanford
Bringing his talents to UF as a product of Ellerslie, Ga., Stanford will suit up in No. 29 for the Gators. Competing at Lenoir-Rhyne the past three seasons, he was honored as a 2025 DII All-American thanks to a 393/.480/.757 batting line and 20 home runs – good for the third-most in school history. Tallying 18 doubles and 65 RBI while striking out just 27 times in 214 at bats, Stanford also brought home First Team All-SAC and All-Region accolades. Seeing action in 150 career games while making 140 starts for the Bears, he slashed .338/.436/.620 with 39 homers, 30 doubles, 135 RBI, 123 runs scored and more walks (76) than strikeouts (65). Stanford finished with a .985 fielding percentage across 1,015 chances, producing a clip above .984 in all three seasons.
 
Before arriving at Lenoir Rhyne, Stanford spent one season at Gordon State College in Barnesville, Ga. In 64 games, he hit .366 while registering six homers, 56 RBI and 42 runs scored. Going back even further, Stanford played prep ball at Harris County High School where he graduated in 2020. From 2016-19, he was named to six all-tournament teams at Perfect Game events.

 

Solo home run for Cole Stanford ⚾️#GOBEARS I #BetweenTheBricks pic.twitter.com/SDEeMdL0ja

— LR BEARS BASEBALL (@Baseball_LR) March 22, 2025

The Gators are currently in week three of their fall season, with all practices and scrimmages free to attend and open to the public. Florida has exhibition games against JU in Jacksonville (Friday, Oct. 31 – 6:30 p.m.) and Georgia Southern at Condron Family Ballpark (Sunday, Nov. 9 – 2 p.m.). Tickets for the Florida-Jacksonville exhibition are currently available for purchase.
 
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