The Florida Gators Head Coach, Kevin O’Sullivan returns 11 players that look to make a very big impact on the 2012 season. Right-hander Karsten Whitson  (So.) who was a 2011 Perfect Game Freshman Pitcher of the year, will be returning as well as  Left-hander/first baseman Brian Johnson (Jr.),  right-hander Hudson Randall (Jr.) and left-hander Steven Rodriguez (Jr.). The 2011 SEC Player of the year, catcher Mike Zunio (Jr.) and the 2011 SEC Tournament Most Valuable Player, outfielder Daniel Pigott (Sr.)  will be returning as well. Rounding out the remaining players are outfielder Preston Tucker (Sr.), catcher/right-hander/infielder Austin Maddox (Jr.), the 2011 College World Series All-Tournament Team Third Baseman Cody Dent (Jr.) and Zack Powers (So.), a 2011 SECC All-Freshman Team third basemen rounds out the group.

As for the new members of the Florida Gators Baseball team, they will be the fourth straight incoming freshman class that are ranked in the top 10 nationally as a recruiting class as a whole.

Keep an eye out on the Gators pitching squad as they look to improve on there already gaudy statistics from last year.  Florida led the nation in walks allowed per nine innings with an average of 1.82. As a team, they collectively had an ERA (Earned Run Average) of 2.95 and had 547 strikeouts and 130 walks. The Gators offense ranked No. 1 last year in hits, with 755. They ranked 5th  in doubles and homers.

In 2011, the Florida Gators finished with a 22 – 8 record in the Southeastern Conference, which was tied for a conference best with Vanderbilt and South Carolina. The Gators defeated Vanderbilt 5 – 0 in the SEC Championship game to win their sixth league title and first in 20 years.

The Gators open up their season on February 17, 2012 against Cal State Fullerton, which will be the first of a three game series. Cal State is ranked 21 in Collegiate Baseball’s Preseason Poll. It should be a great start to the 2012 season.

Q: What’s your relationship with the baseball program at Florida since you have graduated like?

(Matt) A: I have a great relationship with Coach O’Sullivan and the entire athletic department. I don’t get back as much as I would like because of my baseball schedule, but I’m always either watching or checking the scores to see how the team is doing.

Q:Talk to us about Coach O’Sullivan?

A:First off he has to do a great job with coming in and putting Florida back in the top 5 or so programs in the country. He does an amazing job recruiting and then once those players are on campus he builds them into good ball players

Q: What made you choose Florida?

A:It’s not only a great athletic school but it’s also a place where you can get a great education. My mom graduated from there so that played a big part of it as well as just the tradition of the program

Q: Florida is known as a football school how does the baseball team get treated by the fans and student body?

A: First Florida has a wonderful football program and understandably football is big in the south so it does create more attention, but the baseball program is well respected and the fans and students give us full support. Actually any sport at Florida is supported whether it be volleyball, basketball, lacrosse or whatever sport it will be supported the students just all around love Florida athletics.

Q: Describe to me the feeling of being apart of Gator Nation?

A: Its one of the best feelings just being apart of the family atmosphere is great. No Matter where you go people always recognize you as a gator. Its true once a Gator always a Gator

Q: What was the feeling like going to Omaha for the college world series and what makes it so special?

A: Its an amazing feeling just being apart of the history of the college world series. The fan atmosphere is what sets it apart as there is 25,000 screaming fans watching college baseball. The city of Omaha also puts in tons of effort to make the game so special and to make the players feel welcome. There is nothing like Omaha for the college world series

Q: Whats your goal and the teams goals for this year with the Indians?

A: Well we are a young team and we expect to keep building on last year. As a team we have to cut down on the mental and physical errors and that will help us to improve upon last year. Me as a player I feel like I just have to just keep working to get better every year.

Lastly Matt has offered to answer any questions Gator fans have for him and has welcomed us to keep in touch with him throughout the season for updates on him and the Cleveland Indians.

By: Andrew Spivey

Sophomore Austin Maddox earned second team after being awarded as the SEC freshman of the year last season. Maddox started a total of 63 games last season in four different positions for the Gators. Maddox batted .333, had 72 RBI which was a team high and had 17 home runs.

First baseman Preston Tucker and pitcher Alex Panteliodis were selected for third team. Tucker started 50 games at third base, hit .331 with 49 RBI, 17 doubles, 11 home runs and eight stolen based. Pateliodis ended the season 11-3 with a 3.51 ERA.

(Info gathered by Rachel George from the Orlando Sentinel)

There is so much to describe about Steinbrenner in just so many ways. He loved to win. That was on the top of his list. Steinbrenner turned the Yankee organization around. From buying a team that was worth $10 million back in 1973, George did a lot of work over the years made helped the Yankees become a value that is worth over $1.2 billion. He will always be remembered for seven World Series wins and leading the Yankees to 11 AL pendants. [Gathered by Adam Silverstein of OGGOA]

Steinbrenner was real good friends with my dads friend who is a high school legend basketball coach here in Ocala and every year Kentucky travels to Gainesville to play the Gators in basketball, Steinbrenner gives my dad and his friend two tickets where he owns seats right behind the bench. Steinbrenner also owns a hotel in Ocala and every year the Kingdom of the Sun is hosted at Vanguard High School, all of the basketball players stay at his hotel.

We will always have George and his family in our thoughts and prayers.

Chapman, who was selected as the 119th pick in the fourth round by the Royals, was also chosen as a third-team All-American by NCBWA which is short for the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Not to mention he earned the second-team All-South Region accolades as well.

This past season, Chapman led the team in appearances with 31 and had a 3-0 record with a 1.64 ERA. He recorded 44 total strikeouts in more than 43 innings, only gave up seven walks and kept his opponents batting average down to a low .190 which is pretty impressive.

Back in late May he was named the SEC pitcher of the week for the first time.

Chapman was the second Gator drafted from a total of six that were taken in the 2010 draft and to sign a contract. We wish Kevin the best as he looks to move forward.

So now we look to August….57 days and counting.

To what you ask?  The football team shows up and we begin to count the days to the first game, the first tailgate party.  Are we going to see kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso on campus this fall?  Will John Brantley break out of Tim Tebow’s shadow and lead this team to an SEC East title…. All questions that will be answered after the dog days of summer.

Most fans are wondering if Florida left it’s solid pitching back in Gainesville. The Gators pitching staff gave up 32 hits over their only 2 CWS games this week and 19 runs. While the pitching was less then stellar the Gator offense was nearly as bad totally only 6 runs in 2 games.

While this is quite a disappointing end to baseball season their was much achieved and a bright future awaits. Florida returns tons of talent next year as well as another good recruiting class. Kevin O’Sullivan has give this program new life and looks as if they can compete in the NCAA’s year in and year out.

By:
Calvin McDermid

Both teams seem like they just can’t get enough of each other. This is going to be the fifth time the Gators and Seminoles have faced each other this year, but this game means a lot more.

FSU (47-19) landed up in the losers bracket after a 8-1 defeat against TCU last Saturday, while Florida was chomped 11-3 by a solid 6th seed UCLA team.

Everybody make sure to tune into the game today, it will be aired live on television on ESPN2 and may also be seen online. Just search for a live video streaming site or espn3.com has it.

The last time these two teams met during the post-season in 2008, the Seminoles put the Gators season to an end during the Tallahassee Regional. But according to Antonya English of Gator Report, the Gators have a 10-3 advantage in the NCAA tournament games against the Seminoles and has also won the last seven of the eight meetings.

Looking back at the four games played earlier this year, FSU won three of the four.

The Gators will go with freshman pitcher Hudson Randall on the hill today. Head coach Kevin O’Sullivan has a lot of confidence starting Randall today, but it’s a wise decision. Randall will be making his 17th start which is a team high, and has not lost one game in his last 10 outings. Randall also leads second on the teams in strikeouts with 68 in 94 innings. He has also kept his opponents down with an .266 batting average.

If you look back at the last time Randall pitched against the Seminoles, it wasn’t picture perfect. With this being his fourth appearance, he is 0-1 with 7.71 ERA against FSU. He has allowed 13 hits and nine runs in 9 innings.

It has been a good while since the Gators have lost consecutive games in a row, and they can’t afford it now either. Looking back in late March against Ole Miss, May 22nd against South Carolina and May 26 against LSU in the SEC tournament are the last time the Gators have recorded consecutive losses.

Antonya English caught up with Matt Den Dekker:

“We’re going to come out ready to play and put this behind us,” senior Matt den Dekker said following the UCLA loss. “We played them already four times this year, so we have an idea of what to expect. We’re going to come ready to play, come out with some intensity and get ready to go.”

Den Dekker wants it more than anyone. Matt and I had a little conversation the other day on facebook and I can just tell you this… he is wanting to bring a championship back to Gainesville, and his time is limited. I don’t see how he could sleep because I can only imagine whats going through his body right now. His current facebook status:

Matt Den Dekker: Game 2 today vs FSU at 430… win or go home!!!!

Key for today’s game:

• No pitching miscues.
• Stay ahead of FSU with the bats.
• DEFENSE (wins ball games)

Shortly after the game, Gator Sports Nation will have a post-game story published. In the meantime, take a second to visit the GSN Forum and discuss the game in the College World Series thread that is created. Florida Gator Forum

What was real huge that cost the Gators (47-16) is that they let eight UCLA Bruin players get at least one hit last night in the 11-3 loss.

The Gators will now have to face their rivals Florida State at 4:30 pm on Monday which is the elimination game. It will also be aired on ESPN2.

Florida sophomore pitcher Alex Panteliodis allowed a season high of five runs, four of them were earned. He only allowed four earned runs in his first two NCAA tournament starts this season. Panteliodis struggled a bit last night. Only hitting three batters coming into last nights game, he hit the first two at the start of the game. Steven Rodriguez also hit two Bruin batters, hitting none in his 27 innings pitched earlier this year.

UCLA’s pitcher Trevor Bauer (11-3) came up real big in yesterday’s victory, recording 11 strikeouts in seven innings pitched, allowing six hits and three runs.

It all started when the Gators took a 2-1 lead early in the first inning, then the Bruins scored three runs off of three hits and that is when the momentum shifted to their side throughout the whole entire game.

Florida’s World Series hopes are still alive, but the pitching and hitting are going to have to step up big on Monday against the Seminoles.

(Info gathered by Antonya English, Gator Report.)

Courtesy of Gatorzone

Both Louisville Slugger and NCBWA chose Johnson as the Freshman All-American, he earned his spots on the SEC’s All-Freshman Team and will contribute as a starting pitcher and as well as a DH. With Johnson’s 15 appearances and 14 starts on the hill for Florida, he held a record of 6-4, 3.97 ERA and 48 strikeouts in a total of 70 innings.

Johnson can not only pitch, but he has a mean stroke at the plate as well. He was the Gators DH in 26 games this season with a .413 BA, 19 RBIs, 13 runs scores, five doubles, four home runs, and two grand slams. Yeah…. pretty impressive huh?

Johnson was honored as the Most Outstanding Player at the NCAA Gainesville Regional when he finished batting 5-for-8 (.625) and pitched seven shut out innings in the championship game. During the Florida Atlantic game, he went 3-for-5 along with a lead off homer that was belted in the third inning. During the second game against Florida Atlantic, Johnson hit the stick real well, going 2-for-3 and not to mention he earned his first career triple in the victory against Oregon State.

In last weeks sweep against the Hurricanes, Johnson hit a team high of .429 and also drove in three runs. He received freshman player of the week back on April 5 and repeated it on May 3, putting his name on the Watch List for the John Olerud Award that is given to the countries best two way player which Johnson is.

Florida is set to play UCLA in the college world series on Saturday, starting at 7:00pm on ESPN. This is the Gators 64th College World Series appearance.

(Info gathered by Gatorzone.)