Gator Baseball Announces Fall Practice Schedule
Wednesday, September 24, 2008 | Baseball
The University of Florida baseball team will open its fall practice session on Friday, Sept. 26, at McKethan Stadium. The entire squad will have a total of 35 practice sessions, including several scrimmages, from Sept. 26 through Nov. 9. The annual Orange and Blue World Series, an intrasquad competition in which the Gators are split into two teams, will be contested from Nov. 7-9.
UF's fall roster includes 34 players, 14 of whom are newcomers to the program. The team has been conducting individual workouts and conditioning drills since the beginning of the fall semester. Head coach Kevin O'Sullivan begins his second season at the helm and is joined by assistant coaches Craig Bell, Brad Weitzel and Don Norris.
"We are eager to get going with our preparations for the upcoming season," said O'Sullivan. "Blending our new players with a talented group of returnees is a challenge we have looked forward to since finishing last June. Having everyone on the field at once should give us plenty of time to evaluate positional battles and how our pitching staff will shape up."
Practices during the week will be held on Tuesday through Friday at 2:30 p.m. Saturday's practices will begin at 11 a.m. and Sunday's sessions start at noon. All workouts are open to the public and fans are encouraged to attend. The schedule can be subject to change depending on weather or other events held on campus. O'Sullivan's current squad is comprised of five seniors, 13 juniors, four sophomores, 11 true freshmen and one redshirt freshman.
The Gators will begin their 2009 campaign on Feb. 20, when they host Louisville in the opener of a three-game series at McKethan Stadium. Florida was 34-24 overall and 17-13 in the Southeastern Conference last season on its way to a berth in the NCAA Tallahassee Regional.
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