GAINESVILLE
— The greatest era of Florida Gators baseball is going to be a
waste if it does not produce a College World Series championship.
Winning
53 games and finishing as the national runner-up last year?
Worthless. That is a pervasive opinion among this year's team.
"To
not win that last series of the year was a big disappointment,"
said catcher Mike Zunino, the 2011 SEC Player of the Year. "When
you're there, you expect to win it. Everyone has that same feeling.
"It
was a great season, don't get me wrong, but we set out with that goal
every year and to get that close, you feel like you were left a
little bit short."
Florida
is 142-58 over the past three seasons, the best three-year record in
program history, but the absence of a national title stings.
The
aspirations and expectations are heightened this year. Seven players
were named pre-season all-Americans. For the second straight season,
the Gators open as the No. 1 team in the country. They begin the
pursuit of their first national championship tonight against No. 25
Cal State Fullerton at McKethan Stadium (7 p.m., FS Florida).
Whether
or not it was intentional, recruiting and development built toward
this being the big year for coach Kevin O'Sullivan and his team.
Florida has its entire weekend rotation back, led by Hudson Randall,
who went 11-3 with a 2.17 ERA last season. Sophomore Karsten Whitson,
the No. 9 pick in the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft, will move up
to second in the rotation after leading the team with 92 strikeouts
and going 8-1 with a 2.40 ERA.
On
Sundays, the Gators will go with Brian Johnson, who went 8-3 last
year and batted .307 as a first baseman.
"There's
certainly a comfort level with all three coming back,"
O'Sullivan said. "But other teams have a pretty good scouting
report on them, so they've got to improve."
The
lineup is almost intact, too. Six of the players who started
Florida's final game of last season are back. The Gators' top three
leaders in hits -- Zunino, Tucker and Daniel Pigott -- all returned.
Among the top 10 in hits last season, only two are gone.
Tyler
Thompson, a senior out of Jupiter High School, was a part-time
starter last year, but should be the regular center fielder this
season. Thompson fought through a torn hamstring, an infection under
his fingernail on his throwing hand, a groin injury and back spasms
last year and batted .264.
"He's
leading our team in hitting during the pre-season," O'Sullivan
said. "If we keep him healthy, he's ready to have a big year."
In
addition to the veteran talent, the Gators added an exceptional
recruiting class. Freshman Taylor Gushue, from Boca Raton, has been
one of the team's top power hitters during scrimmages, O'Sullivan
said. Infielders Josh Tobias and Casey Turgeon also have the
potential to play right away.
Other
young players who had minor roles on last year's team look ready to
emerge, led by sophomore Jonathan Crawford from Okeechobee High
School. He threw just three innings last year, but should be one of
the team's top relievers and midweek starters this season.
"He's
probably the most improved pitcher on our team," O'Sullivan
said. "He's throwing strikes. He's 90-94 miles per hour. He's
got a heavy sinker. He is starting to evolve into the pitcher that we
all had hoped he would become. Now he's just got to do it when the
lights go on."
The
same could be said of the team as a whole. Nobody hangs banners for
being pre-season No. 1, and all that ranking actually means is "that
you have talented players," Tucker said.
Escaping
the conference will be tough enough, let alone winning a national
championship. The SEC has five other teams ranked in the top 11
according to Baseball America.
"I've
got no reason to believe they won't handle it well," O'Sullivan
said. They're ready to go.
"This
isn't the first time they've had expectations. It's Florida. We want
to be in Omaha every year and competing for national championships."
