Florida Gators
Overall Rank: #3
Conference Rank: #2 SEC
Florida finished last season as the top seed in the tournament. And they lived up to that billing in the Regional and Super Regional, where they slipped past Auburn in three games. In Omaha the Gators lost their opener against Texas Tech and managed to battle their way into the semifinals before being eliminated by Arkansas. Coach Kevin O’Sullivan has some great players to replace, but he also has a lot of young talent more than ready to step up and lead this team back to Omaha.
2018: 49-21, 20-10
2018 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Kevin O’Sullivan
Key Departed Players:
Jonathan India, IF, .350 BA, 21 HR, 52 RBI, 15 SB
JJ Schwarz, C/1B, .308 BA, 13 HR, 48 RBI
Deacon Liput, IF, .285 BA, 9 HR, 38 RBI, 11 SB
Nick Horvath, OF, .268 BA, 7 HR, 35 RBI
Brady Singer, P, 2.55 ERA, 12-3 W/L, 113.0 IP, 114 SO
Jackson Kowar, P, 3.04 ERA, 10-5 W/L, 112.1 IP, 115 SO
Michael Byrne, P, 1.61 ERA, 3-1 W/L, 61.1 IP, 64 SO. 16 SV
Key Returning Players:
Austin Langworthy, OF, .290 BA, 4 HR, 29 RBI
Nelson Maldonado, OF, .273 BA, 9 HR, 44 RBI
Wil Dalton, OF, .262 BA, 19 HR, 60 RBI
Blake Reese. IF/OF, .253 BA, 5 HR, 43 RBI, 14 SB
Jack Leftwich, P, 4.20 ERA, 5-5 W/L, 81.1 IP, 84 SO
Projection:
Losing Brady Singer, Jackson Kowar and Michael Byrne would destroy most pitching staffs. It is not ideal that those three are gone, but the Gators are absolutely loaded with talent. It may take some time for a large group of freshmen to find their roles on the staff, but eventually Florida will have a dominating staff. The story is mostly the same in the lineup where the Gators must replace Jonathan India and JJ Schwarz. Austin Langworthy, Nelson Maldonado and Wil Dalton are a superb trio to reload around though. Langworthy hit .290 last season, while Maldonado hit .273 with nine homeruns and 44 RBIs. Dalton could be the best of the bunch after belting 19 homeruns with 60 RBIs during his sophomore season. There will be a handful of freshmen and inexperienced sophomores who will be thrown into the mix. If the underclassmen can live up to their potential, this might be the best team in the country.
Projected Postseason: NCAA Baseball Tournament
