The 2024 Florida Gators baseball team represented the University of Florida in the sport of baseball during the 2024 college baseball season. Florida competed in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Home games were played at Condron Ballpark on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus, in the fourth season at the ballpark. The team was coached by Kevin O'Sullivan in his seventeenth season as Florida's head coach. The Gators entered the season looking to return to the College World Series after finishing as the national runner-up to LSU in last year's NCAA tournament, as well as defend their 2023 SEC championship.
2024Florida Gators baseball
Stillwater Regional champions Clemson Super Regional champions
x – Division champion † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 24, 2024 Rankings from D1Baseball
The Gators' turbulent regular season began with a season-opening loss to St. John's in a rain-curtailed series. This set the tone for the non-conference slate, as Florida went 8–6 in midweek games, including a sweep by Florida State in their annual rivalry series. The Gators opened conference play with three ranked series wins, including on the road in a national championship rematch against LSU, and against 2024 College World Series team Texas A&M. This start was derailed when the Gators were swept by last-place Missouri, with Missouri winning each game by a single run. They continued to add to their conference deficit by winning only one game in each of their next five series, including back-to-back-to-back series against top five teams in Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky. However, Florida was able to log a final series win at No. 9 Georgia. This guaranteed they would meet the minimum eligibility criterion for a potential at-large bid to the 2024 NCAA Division I baseball tournament despite their first round loss to Vanderbilt in the conference tournament.
With a 28–27 record, the Gators were awarded the third seed in the Stillwater regional, where they overcame the losers' bracket to win over host Oklahoma State. This set up a Super Regional showdown against No. 6 national seed Clemson, and marked the first time head coach Kevin O'Sullivan would return to Clemson since he departed Jack Leggett's staff after the 2007 season when he was hired by Florida. Florida completed the sweep in what was billed as instant classic when Michael Robertson hit a walk-off, 2-RBI double in the 13th inning after 5 hours and 4 minutes, claiming Game 2 11–10, and sending the Gators to their fourteenth College World Series just a year after coming up short against LSU in the national championship series.
At the College World Series, a sluggish offensive performance in which the Gators struck out 16 times and went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position resulted in a 3–2 loss to Texas A&M in the opening round. However, victories against NC State and Kentucky in the losers' bracket set up a rematch against Texas A&M in the semifinal. The season would ultimately come to an end here, where the Gators were again sluggish on offense, this time hitting 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position in a 6–0 shutout loss, falling short of returning to the CWS Championship Series.
Preseason
Preseason SEC awards and honors
Infielders Cade Kurland and Colby Shelton, relief pitcher Brandon Neely, and two-way player Jac Caglianone were named to the All-SEC preseason first team. Caglianone was also named to the All-SEC preseason second team as a starting pitcher.
Preseason All-SEC First Team
Player
No.
Position
Class
Jac Caglianone
14
1B
Junior
Cade Kurland
4
2B
Sophomore
Brandon Neely
22
P
Junior
Colby Shelton
10
SS
Sophomore
Preseason All-SEC Second Team
Player
No.
Position
Class
Jac Caglianone
14
P
Junior
Coaches poll
The SEC baseball coaches' poll was released on February 8, 2024.
SEC East Coaches' Poll
Predicted finish
Team
Points
1
Florida
88 (11)
2
Tennessee
75 (2)
3
Vanderbilt
73 (1)
4
South Carolina
50
5
Kentucky
44
6
Georgia
36
7
Missouri
19
Roster
2024 Florida Gators baseball team
Players
Coaches
#
Pos.
Name
B/T
Height
Weight
Year
Home town
1
INF
Dale Thomas
R/R
5 ft 10 in(1.78 m)
205 lb (93 kg)
Sr
De Leon Springs, FL
2
OF
Ty Evans
R/R
6 ft 2 in(1.88 m)
225 lb (102 kg)
Jr
Auburndale, FL
3
LHP
Cade Fisher
L/L
6 ft 4 in(1.93 m)
210 lb (95 kg)
So
Dalton, GA
4
INF
Cade Kurland
R/R
5 ft 11 in(1.8 m)
195 lb (88 kg)
So
Tampa, FL
5
INF
Summy Mummau
R/R
6 ft 0 in(1.83 m)
185 lb (84 kg)
Fr
Palm Harbor, FL
6
INF
Tyler Shelnut
R/R
6 ft 2 in(1.88 m)
200 lb (91 kg)
Sr
Lake City, FL
8
RHP
Christian Rodriguez
R/R
6 ft 0 in(1.83 m)
210 lb (95 kg)
Fr
Coral Springs, FL
9
RHP
Luke McNeillie
L/R
6 ft 3 in(1.91 m)
185 lb (84 kg)
Fr
Milton, GA
10
INF
Colby Shelton
L/R
6 ft 0 in(1.83 m)
200 lb (91 kg)
So
Lexington, SC
11
OF
Michael Robertson
L/R
6 ft 2 in(1.88 m)
195 lb (88 kg)
RS So
Venice, FL
12
RHP
Liam Peterson
R/R
6 ft 5 in(1.96 m)
205 lb (93 kg)
Fr
Palm Harbor, FL
13
RHP
Ryan Slater
R/R
6 ft 3 in(1.91 m)
205 lb (93 kg)
RS Jr
Palm Harbor, FL
14
LHP
Jac Caglianone
L/L
6 ft 5 in(1.96 m)
250 lb (113 kg)
Jr
Tampa, FL
15
INF
Landon Russell
R/R
6 ft 1 in(1.85 m)
190 lb (86 kg)
So
Phenix City, AL
16
OF
Hayden Yost
L/L
6 ft 1 in(1.85 m)
195 lb (88 kg)
Fr
Tampa, FL
17
LHP
Jacob Gomberg
L/L
5 ft 10 in(1.78 m)
175 lb (79 kg)
Fr
Coral Springs, FL
18
LHP
Pierce Coppola
L/L
6 ft 8 in(2.03 m)
255 lb (116 kg)
RS So
Verona, NJ
20
RHP
Jake Clemente
R/R
6 ft 3 in(1.91 m)
220 lb (100 kg)
RS Fr
Coral Springs, FL
21
RHP
Caden McDonald
R/R
6 ft 3 in(1.91 m)
205 lb (93 kg)
Fr
Tampa, FL
22
RHP
Brandon Neely
R/R
6 ft 3 in(1.91 m)
210 lb (95 kg)
Jr
Seville, FL
23
INF
John Martinez
R/R
5 ft 11 in(1.8 m)
190 lb (86 kg)
Fr
Orlando, FL
24
OF
Blake Brookins
L/R
6 ft 5 in(1.96 m)
215 lb (98 kg)
Fr
Palmetto Bay, FL
25
RHP
Reilly Witmer
R/R
6 ft 4 in(1.93 m)
220 lb (100 kg)
Fr
Naples, FL
26
C
Tanner Garrison
R/R
6 ft 3 in(1.91 m)
220 lb (100 kg)
Sr
Dallas, TX
27
RHP
Fisher Jameson
R/R
6 ft 5 in(1.96 m)
240 lb (109 kg)
Jr
Lake Worth, FL
28
C
Luke Heyman
R/R
6 ft 4 in(1.93 m)
220 lb (100 kg)
So
Longwood, FL
29
C
Brody Donay
R/R
6 ft 5 in(1.96 m)
235 lb (107 kg)
So
Lakeland, FL
30
OF
Ashton Wilson
R/R
6 ft 0 in(1.83 m)
195 lb (88 kg)
So
Orlando, FL
31
LHP
Frank Menendez
L/L
6 ft 1 in(1.85 m)
230 lb (104 kg)
Fr
Miami, FL
32
RHP
Grayson Smith
R/R
6 ft 2 in(1.88 m)
205 lb (93 kg)
Fr
Rocky Face, GA
33
LHP
Robert Satin
L/L
6 ft 3 in(1.91 m)
215 lb (98 kg)
Fr
Tampa, FL
34
RHP
Alex Philpott
R/R
6 ft 5 in(1.96 m)
175 lb (79 kg)
Fr
Tampa, FL
41
RHP
Blake Purnell
R/R
6 ft 3 in(1.91 m)
220 lb (100 kg)
RS Jr
Boynton Beach, FL
44
INF
Armando Albert
L/R
5 ft 11 in(1.8 m)
160 lb (73 kg)
Sr
Plantation, FL
48
RHP
Hunter Jones
R/R
6 ft 3 in(1.91 m)
170 lb (77 kg)
Fr
Anthony, FL
50
OF
Jaylen Guy
R/R
6 ft 0 in(1.83 m)
200 lb (91 kg)
Sr
Greensboro, NC
Head coach
7 Kevin O'Sullivan
Assistant coach(es)
Taylor Black Chuck Jeroloman David Kopp Mike Rivera
Updated for entire regular season. Tie Brkrs: TENN>KEN head to head. MSU>UGA head to head. ALA>VAN & FLA>SCAR & LSU TENN common. VAN>FLA head to head. SCAR>LSU ARK common. ARK SEC Tournament seed>KEN, ARK West champion.
Rankings
Ranking movements Legend:██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes ( ) = First-place votes
Week
Poll
Pre
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Final
Coaches'
3 (5)
3 (5)*
4 (2)
7
11
8
6 (1)
9
18
RV
—
—
—
—
—
—
—*
6
Baseball America
4
5
5
6
10
8
4
4
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—*
6
NCBWA†
3
6
6
8
15
10
8
10
24
—
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
13
5
D1Baseball
2
4
4
4
8
6
6
6
24
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—*
8
Perfect Game
4
6
6
8
11
6
4
6
16
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
14
4
† NCBWA ranks 35 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season. * A new poll was not released for this week, so for comparison purposes, the previous week's ranking is inserted in this week's slot.
wikipedia, wiki, encyclopedia, book, library, article, read, free download, Information about 2024 Florida Gators baseball team, What is 2024 Florida Gators baseball team? What does 2024 Florida Gators baseball team mean?