Mr2Bits
Gator Fan
The University of Florida has been ranked No. 25 in Collegiate Baseball newspaper's Fabulous 40 preseason NCAA Division I baseball poll released on Monday. Second-year head coach Kevin O’Sullivan and the Gators will begin the 2009 campaign on Feb. 20 at McKethan Stadium, when eighth-ranked Louisville visits for the opener of a three-game series.
The Orange and Blue return 18 letterwinners, including six pitchers and six players who saw the majority of time at their position last season, and welcome 14 players into the program. The trio of sophomore third baseman Josh Adams (Jacksonville, Fla.), junior center fielder Matt den Dekker (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and senior right-hander Patrick Keating (Harrisburg, Ill.) earned first-team All-SEC last season, while senior left fielder Avery Barnes (High Springs, Fla.) was a second-team recipient. Adams collected Freshman All-America kudos from three different organizations and joined Keating on the ABCA All-South Region list, while den Dekker played for the USA Baseball National Team last summer that completed its tour with a spotless 24-0 record.
The Gators, coming off their first NCAA Regional appearance since 2005, join the rest of the Southeastern Conference in the poll, as all 12 teams are either ranked (LSU, 1st; Georgia, 4th; Ole Miss, 11th; Kentucky, 19th; Alabama, 40th) or received votes (Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Arkansas, Auburn, Tennessee, Mississippi State). The SEC is the only conference in the nation to have all of its teams represented in the preseason poll.
The contest with the Cardinals begins the 35-game home schedule at McKethan Stadium, where the Gators were 27-6 (.818) last year. Twenty-four of UF's 56 games during the regular season will be against squads listed in the Collegiate Baseball poll.
The Orange and Blue return 18 letterwinners, including six pitchers and six players who saw the majority of time at their position last season, and welcome 14 players into the program. The trio of sophomore third baseman Josh Adams (Jacksonville, Fla.), junior center fielder Matt den Dekker (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and senior right-hander Patrick Keating (Harrisburg, Ill.) earned first-team All-SEC last season, while senior left fielder Avery Barnes (High Springs, Fla.) was a second-team recipient. Adams collected Freshman All-America kudos from three different organizations and joined Keating on the ABCA All-South Region list, while den Dekker played for the USA Baseball National Team last summer that completed its tour with a spotless 24-0 record.
The Gators, coming off their first NCAA Regional appearance since 2005, join the rest of the Southeastern Conference in the poll, as all 12 teams are either ranked (LSU, 1st; Georgia, 4th; Ole Miss, 11th; Kentucky, 19th; Alabama, 40th) or received votes (Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Arkansas, Auburn, Tennessee, Mississippi State). The SEC is the only conference in the nation to have all of its teams represented in the preseason poll.
The contest with the Cardinals begins the 35-game home schedule at McKethan Stadium, where the Gators were 27-6 (.818) last year. Twenty-four of UF's 56 games during the regular season will be against squads listed in the Collegiate Baseball poll.
