2020 Florida Gators baseball team

The 2020 Florida Gators baseball team represented the University of Florida in the sport of baseball during the 2020 college baseball season. Florida competed in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Home games were played at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus, in the final season at the ballpark. The team was coached by Kevin O'Sullivan in his thirteenth season as Florida's head coach. The Gators entered the season looking to return to the College World Series after an early regional exit in last year's Lubbock Regional.

2020 Florida Gators baseball
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
DivisionEastern Division
Ranking
CoachesNo. 1
CBNo. 1
2020 record16–1 (0–0 SEC)
Head coachKevin O'Sullivan (13th season)
Assistant coaches
  • Craig Bell
  • Chuck Jeroloman
Home stadiumAlfred A. McKethan Stadium
2020 Southeastern Conference baseball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
Eastern
No. 1 Florida  ‍‍‍ 0–0 –  16–1 .941
Tennessee  ‍‍‍ 0–0 –  15–2 .882
No. 3 Georgia  ‍‍‍ 0–0 –  14–4 .778
South Carolina  ‍‍‍ 0–0 –  12–4 .750
No. 6 Vanderbilt  ‍‍‍ 0–0 –  13–5 .722
Missouri •  ‍‍‍ 0–0 –  11–5 .688
Kentucky  ‍‍‍ 0–0 –  11–6 .647
Western
No. 8 Ole Miss  ‍‍‍ 0–0 –  16–1 .941
Alabama  ‍‍‍ 0–0 –  16–1 .941
Texas A&M  ‍‍‍ 0–0 –  15–3 .833
No. 17 Mississippi State  ‍‍‍ 0–0 –  11–4 .733
No. 18 Auburn  ‍‍‍ 0–0 –  13–5 .722
No. 19 LSU  ‍‍‍ 0–0 –  12–5 .706
No. 14 Arkansas  ‍‍‍ 0–0 –  11–5 .688
‡ – Tournament champion
  • – ineligible for postseason due to NCAA sanctions
    As of August 14, 2020[1]; Rankings from D1Baseball

The season was cut short in stages by March 17 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] The Gators finished with a 16–1 record, tied for the best in the country, and ranked No. 1 in all major polls. A tightly-contested road sweep of the Miami Hurricanes helped propel Florida to the top spot in the rankings. Not knowing at the time it would be their final game, the Gators saw their 11-game winning streak over Florida State come to an end in the last game played at McKethan Stadium.

Previous season

The Gators finished the 2019 season with a 34–26 record, compiling a 13–17 mark in the SEC.

2019 MLB Draft

The Gators had five players drafted in the 2019 MLB draft.[3]

Player Position Round Overall MLB Team
Brady McConnellShortstop244Kansas City Royals
Tyler DysonPitcher5153Washington Nationals
Wil DaltonOutield8257Boston Red Sox
Nelson MaldonadoOutfield21642Chicago Cubs
Hunter BarcoPitcher24718New York Mets
Feleipe FranksPitcher31947Boston Red Sox
Tyler NesbittPitcher32969Colorado Rockies

Players in bold are signees drafted from high school that will attend Florida.

Preseason

SEC media poll

The SEC media poll was released on February 6, 2020, with the Gators predicted to finish in second place in the Eastern Division.[4]

Media poll (East)
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1Vanderbilt87 (9)
2Florida77 (3)
3Georgia76 (2)
4Tennessee50
5South Carolina48
6Missouri32
7Kentucky22

Personnel

Roster
2020 Florida Gators roster[5]
 

Pitchers

  • 3 - Garrett Milchin - Junior
  • 5 - Brandon Sproat - Freshman
  • 10 - Tyler Nesbitt - Freshman
  • 14 - Christian Scott - Sophomore
  • 16 - Ryan Cabarcas - Freshman
  • 17 - David Luethje - Sophomore
  • 20 - Nick Pogue - Sophomore
  • 23 - Jack Leftwich - Junior
  • 30 - Hunter Mink - Freshman
  • 33 - Trey Van Der Weide - Graduate Student
  • 37 - Nolan Crisp - Sophomore
  • 39 - Justin Alintoff - Junior
  • 46 - Nick Ficarrotta - Freshman
  • 47 - Tommy Mace - Junior
  • 55 - Ben Specht - Sophomore
  

Catchers

  • 2 - Cal Greenfield - Junior
  • 28 - Matt Powell - Freshman

Infielders

  • 13 - Andrew Roberts - Freshman
  • 21 - Nick Blasucci - Senior
  • 22 - Cory Acton - Sophomore
  • 24 - Josh Rivera - Freshman
  • 27 - Isaac Nunez - Freshman
  • 34 - Kris Armstrong - Sophomore
  • 52 - Kirby McMullen - Senior
  

Outfielders

  • 1 - Jacob Young - Sophomore
  • 4 - Jud Fabian - Sophomore
  • 18 - Brock Edge - Junior
  • 29 - Austin Brinling - Freshman
  • 32 - Tucker Talbott - Freshman

Utility

  • 6 - Kendrick Calilao (1B/OF) - Sophomore
  • 9 - Brady Smith (INF/C) - Junior
  • 11 - Nathan Hickey (C/INF) - Freshman
  • 12 - Hunter Barco (P/1B) - Freshman
  • 15 - Jordan Butler (P/1B) - Junior
  • 44 - Austin Langworthy (OF/P) - Senior
  

Coaching Staff
2020 Florida Gators coaching staff[5]
NamePositionSeasons at
Florida		Alma Mater
Kevin O'SullivanHead Coach13Virginia (1991)
Craig BellAssistant Coach12North Florida (1989)
Chuck JerolomanAssistant Coach1Auburn (2005)
Lars DavisVolunteer Assistant Coach6Illinois (2007)
Matt den DekkerStudent Assistant Coach1Florida (2010)
Nolan FontanaStudent Assistant Coach1Florida (2013)

Schedule and results

Schedule
Legend
 Florida win
 Florida loss
 Postponement
BoldFlorida team member
2020 Florida Gators Baseball Game Log
Regular Season
Schedule Source:[9]

*Rankings are based on the team's current ranking in the D1Baseball poll.

Florida defeated South Florida 15–5 in the last Saturday game played at McKethan Stadium

Rankings
Main article: 2020 NCAA Division I baseball rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 Final 
Coaches'[10] 10 10* 10* 1 (26) 1 (28) 1 (28) 
Baseball America[11] 4 2 1 1 1 1* 
Collegiate Baseball^[12] 14 14 2 2 1 1 
NCBWA†[13] 8 5 1 1 1 1 
D1Baseball[14] 4 2 1 1 1 1*

^ Collegiate Baseball ranks 40 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season.
 † NCBWA ranks 35 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season.
 * New poll was not released for this week so for comparison purposes the previous week's ranking is inserted in this week's slot.

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References
  1. "2020 Standings". Southeastern Conference. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  2. "COVID-19 Updates". floridagators.com. University Athletic Assoc., Inc., Fox Sports Sun, IMG College. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?came_from=University+of+Florida+%28Gainesville%2C+FL%29&query_type=came_from&from_type_jc=0&from_type_hs=0&from_type_4y=0&from_type_unk=0
  4. https://www.secsports.com/article/28647554/vanderbilt-picked-win-2020-sec-baseball-championship
  5. "Official Baseball Roster". Florida Gators. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  6. Dirlam, Zach (February 25, 2020). "Florida-Florida A&M Game Postponed". floridagators.com. University Athletic Assoc., Inc., Fox Sports Sun, IMG College. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
  7. Dirlam, Zach (February 26, 2020). "Florida-Stetson Midweek Game Rescheduled". floridagators.com. University Athletic Assoc., Inc., Fox Sports Sun, IMG College. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  8. "Stetson, ASUN Cancel Athletics Events". gohatters.com. Stetson University. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  9. floridagators.com
  10. Baseball Coaches Poll
  11. Baseball America College: Top 25
  12. NCAA DIV I Baseball Polls-Collegiate Baseball Newspaper
  13. NCBWA Division I poll
  14. D1 Baseball
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