Florida - April 10-12
After a mediocre regular season by the Gators' standards, finishing 36-30 (13-17) and falling in the first round of the SEC Tournament, they still made it to the College World Series, where they were eliminated by the Texas A&M Aggies.
Kevin O'Sullivan returns for his 18th season as head coach, seeking his second CWS title after winning it all in 2017. He will be doing so with a lot of new faces on both sides of the ball.
While not many players were drafted from Florida’s offense, the ones who are gone were key contributors, including both of their top hitters.
Leading the offense this year will be junior Colbey Shelton, who finished 2024 with a .925 OPS despite a .254 batting average, thanks to 35 extra-base hits, and senior Ty Evans, who hit 13 home runs in just 49 games. They are expected to take the reins of the offense and lead it in 2025.
Behind them, there will be a lot of familiar faces in the lineup, including juniors Luke Heyman, who belted 16 homers last year, Cade Kurland, who went 5-for-5 in stolen bases, and Brody Donay, who finished 2024 with a .527 slugging percentage. To support them, the Gators turned to the portal for some outstanding players, as well as some freshmen.
Newcomers Kyle Jones (Stetson), Blake Cyr (Miami), and Bobby Boser (USF) will join freshmen like Brendan Lawson and Brock Clayton in hopes of helping the Gators this season.
The pitching staff took the biggest hit for the Gators in 2024, losing players to graduation and another four to the draft. The problem is that many of the players taken were crucial to the pitching staff last season.
With their top starter gone, sophomore Liam Peterson is likely to lead the rotation after making 16 starts as a freshman, finishing with a 6.43 ERA. Behind him, there is no other player on the 2025 roster who made more than eight starts in 2024. The rest of the starts will likely be filled by a transfer or freshman.
The bullpen faces a similar situation. Most of the arms from last year are gone, with only sophomore Luke McNeillie returning after making more than 20 appearances in 2024. Much of the help this season will come from freshmen and transfers. Freshmen like Jackson Barberi, Blaine Rowland, and Aidan King are among the new faces who will look to help propel the Gators back to the top.
Guys to look for:
- Christian Rodriguez
- Billy Barlow
- Hayden Yost