The upcoming season for Florida baseball is a big one as the Gators begin their schedule the consensus No. 1 team in the country per D1Baseball, Perfect Game and Collegiate Baseball. According to the first aforementioned publication, UF also has its Preseason SEC Player of the Year.
Junior centerfielder Jud Fabian earned the honor, which was announced on Wednesday on D1Baseball’s official Twitter account. Last season, he batted .294 with 20 hits โ second-most on the team โ and scored a team-high 19 runs as Florida’s leadoff hitter while starting all 17 games in center field. Fabian also had seven multi-hit games and drew 13 walks to post a .407 on-base percentage.
๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ป ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ
โฌ๏ธ @judfabe // @GatorsBBSEC Preview: https://t.co/F05Qc8DVjl pic.twitter.com/g6zW2Ej16n
— D1Baseball (@d1baseball) January 28, 2021
The outfielder from Ocala, Florida, had a decorated high school career at Trinity Catholic under former Gator Tommy Bond, hitting .453 with a school record-tying 11 home runs during his junior year. He elected to skip his senior season and enroll at Florida early, playing in 56 games as a freshman in 2019 while managing a .232/.353/.411 slash line with seven home runs and 26 runs batted in.
The Florida Gators will throw their first pitch of the 2021 season on Feb. 19 when they unveil their brand new Florida Ballpark against the Miami Hurricanes.
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