The Gators saw their season end on Saturday afternoon at the hands of their in-state rivals, but one thing the Seminoles couldn't snuff out was the promise of a bright future.
Though the 17-11 thrashing UF suffered at the hands of Florida State will be the lasting memory of the season until baseball starts anew, coach Kevin O'Sullivan hopes that what his team accomplished won't be overlooked.
"I'm awfully proud of the way they competed this entire year," he said. "No one thought that they'd be in a regional when this thing started. They picked us to finish eleventh in the league, and we ended up finishing third. We did a lot of things that people didn't think we'd do, and those are the things that we'll try to reflect back on and feel good about.
"I don't want this last game to be a defining thing about our team. I want our team to be remembered as a team that battled and hopefully started a long tradition of getting into the postseason year in and year out."
In many ways, Saturday's elimination game was a microcosm of the entire season, highlighting the weaknesses that O'Sullivan pointed out from the beginning.
"Going into the year, we knew that our pitching depth would be a big question mark for us," he said. "We only have eight pitchers that have significant innings for us."
Only nine pitchers have logged more than nine innings of work this season. Injuries only made the pitching depth, or lack thereof, more glaring.
Next year's recruiting class should help that situation. Eight of the 14 signees are pitchers. The Gators will also look for Chas Spottswood, Kevin Chapman and Justin Poovey to return from injuries.
But there will be other positions to fill. Infielders Brandon McArthur and Jon Townsend, designated hitters Bryson Barber and Dustin Bamberg and reliever Josh Edmondson are all graduating. Shortstop Cole Figueroa will most likely be lost to the MLB Draft, while starter Patrick Keating could also move on if he is drafted high enough. Redshirt junior Stephen Locke is still unsure if he will return.
Questions remain about next season, but one thing is for certain: the UF program is headed in the right direction.
O'Sullivan's first season as coach was a marked improvement over the last two years. The meager pitching staff improved from a league-worst 5.27 ERA in 2007 to 4.11 this year, good enough for fourth-best in the Southeastern Conference. And after two years of .500 play, this season's squad finished ten games above .500.
But most importantly, O'Sullivan guided the team back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005, a place they expect to be year in and year out.
McArthur expects the Gators to reach that goal often under the direction of the new coaching staff.
"I kind of wish I was a freshman all over again," he said, "because I very much see a lot of respect coming for this school in the future and this team going a long way.
"The fans here have gotten a glimpse of what is unfortunately going to happen when I'm gone. They're really going to get this program going. Hopefully this is for many, many years to come so I can say that I was part of the first team to make it back to the postseason with this coaching staff."
Second baseman Clayton Pisani will be back for his junior season and is excited about what lies ahead.
"This program is going in the right direction," he said. "I'm proud as ever to be a Gator. I'm proud to play for Coach. I'm proud to play with guys like Brandon. I'm excited to look ahead and what the future could possibly be for the program."
