UF's Josh Adams Named Preseason All-SEC
Wednesday, January 21, 2009 | Baseball
University of Florida sophomore third baseman Josh Adams (Jacksonville, Fla.) was named preseason All-Southeastern Conference by Rivals.com and the Gators were picked to finish second in the SEC East in the online publication's SEC preview.
As a rookie last spring, Adams completed a hat trick of Freshman All-American honors by being chosen as a first-team selection by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball Louisville Slugger and Rivals.com.
The first Gator freshman to be chosen first-team All-SEC since Marc Valdes in 1991, Adams sported a .330 batting average with 51 RBI, 42 runs and eight homers. He was also one of five players to be unanimously chosen to the league's All-Freshman Team.
Adams started 57 games for the Orange and Blue at five different positions (30-2B, 18-3B, 4-LF, 4-CF, 1-RF) and saw action at every spot in the infield. He led UF in slugging percentage (.536), walks (35), doubles (17) and sacrifice hits (four) and tied for second in homers (eight). Adams also ranked second on the squad in on-base percentage (.430), total bases (112) and RBI (51) and was 11-for-15 on the basepaths.
In the team projections, UF was picked to finish second in the Eastern Division behind defending league champion Georgia. After the Bulldogs and Gators occupied the top two spots, they were followed by Vanderbilt, Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee. In the West, top-ranked LSU was slated to finish first, ahead of Ole Miss, Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn and Mississippi State.
The Gators open their second season under head coach Kevin O'Sullivan on Friday, Feb. 20, at McKethan Stadium when they host No. 8 Louisville.
2009 Rivals.Com Preseason All-SEC Team
| C | Bryce Massanari | Georgia |
| 1B | Rich Poythress | Georgia |
| 2B | Ryan Schimpf | LSU |
| SS | Josh Rutledge | Alabama |
| 3B | Josh Adams | FLORIDA |
| OF | Kentrail Davis | Tennessee |
| OF | Blake Dean | LSU |
| OF | Chase Leavitt | Arkansas |
| DH | Hunter Morris | Auburn |
| SP | Mike Minor | Vanderbilt |
| SP | Chris Rusin | Kentucky |
| SP | Trevor Holder | Georgia |
| RP | Scott Bittle | Ole Miss |
-UF-
