The 2022 season was not quite what the Gator Nation expected out of Florida baseball when star center fielder [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] shunned the Boston Red Sox to return to Gainesville while Hunter Barco emerged as the ace of the starting pitching staff. An underwhelming campaign by the former along with a season-ending injury to the latter — among many other disappointments — put a damper on [autotag]Kevin Sullivan[/autotag]’s lofty plans coming into spring.
Florida ended up putting together a 42-24 record overall while going just 15-15 in Southeastern Conference play as the team simply could not find any consistency. UF did show some life in the SEC tournament, fighting its way to the final game against the top-ranked (at the time) Tennessee Volunteers, who ended the Orange and Blue’s Cinderella run with a hard-fought 8-5 victory.
The Gators failed to get out of its regional round for the third-straight season — the second-straight in which they hosted — beating the Central Michigan Chippewas twice while going just 1-2 against the Oklahoma Sooners, who took the regional final after a rain delay put a wet blanket on Florida’s near-victory. Now that the Ole Miss Rebels have been crowned College Baseball World Series winners, it is time for the season’s final rankings to roll in.
According to D1Baseball, Florida finishes ranked No. 21 in the nation, giving the SEC seven total teams in the top 25. Obviously, The Rebels finished first, while the Texas A&M Aggies and Arkansas Razorbacks are ranked third and fourth, respectively, with the Auburn Tigers coming up at No. 7, Tennessee at No. 9 and LSU Tigers rounding things out at No. 25.
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