College baseball finally returns on Friday as the Florida Gators host the Liberty Flames for the first weekend series of the season.
Florida entered 2021 as the No. 1 team in the country, but it didn’t finish the season anywhere near the top. The Gators went 38-22 and were bounced from the Gainesville regional after two quick losses. Expectations are lower this season, but Florida does return six positional starters in 2022.
Those veterans will need to balance out a rather young pitching staff that’s led by sophomore Hunter Barco, Friday’s starter. Brandon Sproat is not in the rotation this weekend, which comes as a bit of a surprise, and Kevin O’Sullivan has decided to go with an all-lefty rotation for the first time while at Florida.
Last year’s starting left fielder Jacob Young is now in the pros and there’s no clear answer just yet on who his everyday replacement should be. Sophomore Wyatt Langford will get the opening day start, but Sully said that multiple players could see time at the position over the season.
Catcher is another position with a bit of a question mark around it. Sophomore Mac Guscette will be behind the plate on Friday, but Coastal Carolina transfer BT Riopelle should get some playtime this weekend as well.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see different lineups thrown out early in the season in an attempt to figure out Florida’s best group before SEC play. O’Sullivan needs to be cautious, though, as last year’s season started off rocky dropping two of three games to Miami.