UF Selected To Finish Second In East By SEC Coaches; Four Gators Chosen Preseason All-SEC
Thursday, February 12, 2015 | Baseball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Florida was predicted to finish second in the Eastern Division, as voted by the league's 14 baseball coaches in the 24th annual preseason SEC poll released on Thursday. The Preseason All-SEC First and Second Teams, as determined by the head coaches, were also announced. Sophomore left-hander/first baseman A.J. Puk and sophomore right-hander Logan Shore were chosen to the first team, while junior outfielder Harrison Bader and senior third baseman Josh Tobias made the second team.
Under the direction of eighth-year head coach Kevin O'Sullivan, the Gators return 22 letterwinners from last season's squad which captured the SEC title for the third time in five years and advanced to the NCAA Regionals for the seven-straight year. O'Sullivan and his staff have welcomed the nation's No. 3 recruiting class according to Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game.
Over 20 appearances on the mound, including seven starts last spring, Puk was 5-2 with a 3.19 earned run average and totaled 46 strikeouts in 42.1 innings. The southpaw limited opponents to a .210 batting average and picked up one save. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa, native also saw time as the Gators' designated hitter and at first base and batted .222 (14-for-63) with eight walks, six RBI, four runs and three doubles.
Chosen as the 2014 National Freshman of the Year by Perfect Game and as the SEC Freshman of the Year, Shore was a third-team All-American by Louisville Slugger and earned Freshman All-American recognition from Baseball America, Louisville Slugger, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and Perfect Game. A first-team All-SEC starting pitcher, joining the league's Pitcher of the Year, LSU's Aaron Nola, he was 7-4 with a team-low 2.16 ERA. He totaled a team-leading 68 strikeouts in 95.2 innings and 15 of his 16 appearances were starts. In addition, the righty worked at least five innings in each start. The Coon Rapids, Minn., native turned in a sterling 7-1 mark in 10 SEC games, with a 2.08 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 65 innings.
Bader led the squad last season with a .337 average in his 44 starts in center field and batted third for the Gators. He had a career-high 24 RBI, to go along with 27 runs, 15 walks, six doubles, two homers and two triples and was 13-for-19 on the basepaths. The Bronxville, N.Y., native earned second-team All-SEC recognition after batting .303 with 20 runs, 15 RBI and 10 stolen bases in league action. He was chosen to the NCAA Gainesville Regional All-Tourney Team after going 3-for-7 (.429) over the Gators' two contests and made the SEC All-Tournament Team after hitting .526 (10-for-19) during Florida's five games in Hoover, with three RBI and a pair of doubles.
Tobias hit a career-high .305 in 46 games and 30 starts (27 at third base, three at designated hitter). He scored 15 runs and equaled single-season bests in walks (9) and homers (3) and had a .293 average in 20 SEC games, with five runs, three RBI, three walks and a pair of stolen bases. Tobias ranked second on the club behind Bader (.500) with a .400 (8-for-20) postseason average in seven games. The Greensboro, N.C., native batted .571 (4-for-7) during the NCAA Gainesville Regional and earned a berth on the SEC All-Tournament squad after batting .308 (4-for-13) with four runs, three RBI and a pair of walks.
In addition to picking a preseason SEC Champion, the league's head coaches voted a predicted order of finish in the SEC's Eastern and Western Divisions. In the East, Vanderbilt was the favorite with 89 of a possible 91 points. The Gators came in second with 80 points, with South Carolina in third with 67 points. LSU was the unanimous favorite in the West, followed by Alabama (62) and Texas A&M (60).
Points were compiled on a 7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis for each division. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team. Each coach also voted for one team as an overall conference champion.
The 2015 SEC regular season begins tomorrow, with conference play set to begin Friday, March 13. The SEC Tournament will be played at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Ala., from May 19-24. The 2014 SEC Baseball Tournament drew 120,386 fans, and nine times in the last 12 years, the tournament has surpassed the six-digit mark in total attendance.
Florida will open its season with a three-game series against Rhode Island beginning on Friday, Feb. 13. Season tickets and the Complete Game Mini-Plans can be purchased online through GatorZone or by calling the Gator Ticket Office at 1-800-34-GATOR from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday. For all of the latest information on Florida baseball, log on to GatorZone or follow the team's Twitter account @GatorZoneBB.
2015 SEC Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll
Eastern Division
| No. | Team | Pts. |
| 1. | Vanderbilt (11) | 89 |
| 2. | FLORIDA (3) | 80 |
| 3. | South Carolina | 67 |
| 4. | Tennessee | 51 |
| 5. | Georgia | 42 |
| 6. | Kentucky | 36 |
| 7. | Missouri | 20 |
Western Division
| No. | Team | Pts. |
| 1. | LSU (13) | 91 |
| 2. | Alabama | 62 |
| 3. | Texas A&M (1) | 60 |
| 4. | Arkansas | 59 |
| 5. | Mississippi State (7) | 52 |
| 6. | Ole Miss | 42 |
| 7. | Auburn | 19 |
SEC Champion: Vanderbilt (11), FLORIDA (2), LSU (1)
First Team
C – Gavin Collins, Mississippi State
1B – Sikes Orvis, Ole Miss
2B – Kyle Overstreet, Alabama *
2B – Max Schrock, South Carolina *
SS – Alex Bregman, LSU
3B – DC Arendas, South Carolina
OF – Christin Stewart, Tennessee
OF – Bryan Reynolds, Vanderbilt
OF – Andrew Stevenson, LSU
DH/UT – A.J. Puk, FLORIDA
SP – Carson Fulmer, Vanderbilt
SP – Logan Shore, FLORIDA
RP – Hayden Stone, Vanderbilt
Second Team
C - Kade Scivicque, LSU
1B – Kyle Martin, South Carolina
2B – Nick Senzel, Tennessee
SS – Dansby Swanson, Vanderbilt
3B – Josh Tobias, FLORIDA
OF – Nick Banks, Texas A&M
OF – Mark Laird, LSU
OF – Harrison Bader, FLORIDA
DH/UT – Taylor Widener, South Carolina
SP – Walker Buehler, Vanderbilt
SP – Robert Tyler, Georgia
RP – Thomas Burrows, Alabama *
RP – Jacob Stone, Arkansas *
* - Ties were not broken
