When examining Florida baseball’s 2015 season, the best place to begin is at the end.
The Gators went 3-2 in the College World Series and nearly made it to the finals, but lost by one run in the semifinals to Virginia, who downed Vanderbilt in a CWS finals rematch.
But over the course of the CWS, UF set records.
First baseman Peter Alonso hit the two longest home runs in the history of the CWS at TD Ameritrade Park, both over 400 feet to center field.
Florida hit four home runs in a 10-2 drubbing of Miami in the third round of the CWS — more than were hit in either of the last two CWS by all teams combined.
Over the course of the NCAA Tournament, Florida outscored its opponents 92-28.
"There were a lot of positive things, but there was only gonna be one team standing at the end of the year and that’s the champion," coach Kevin O’Sullivan said after Florida’s 5-4 loss to Virginia on June 20.
"I’m not gonna lie to you, I felt like if we had a chance to play in the championship round I liked our chances."
But the Gators never got that chance.
UF finished third in the Southeastern Conference in batting average (.298) and fourth in ERA (3.18).
They were one of four SEC teams to finish with 50 or more wins.
Near the beginning of the season, when UF struggled with consistency, that outcome may have sounded like a best-case scenario.
On March 20, after losing back-to-back games against Ole Miss in UF’s first road series of the season, the Gators fell to fourth place in the SEC East division.
They went 5-4 over their next nine games, but with the mid-season emergence of JJ Schwarz against Stetson on April 7, Florida found its groove.
The Gators finished their remaining 28 games with a 20-8 record, and after dropping the SEC Tournament opener to Arkansas, UF rattled off four consecutive victories to claim the SEC Tournament Championship.
During the postseason, the accolades began to pile up: Schwarz was named both the SEC Tournament and Most Outstanding Player in the Gainesville Regional.
He would finish the season as a first-team freshman All-American by D1Baseball and the National Freshman Hitter of the Year by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
Senior third baseman Josh Tobias and junior left-fielder Harrison Bader were also named All-Americans.
Seven different players were selected in the draft, including shortstop Richie Martin, taken 20th overall by the Oakland Athletics, and Bader, taken 100th overall by the St. Louis Cardinals.
"It was like yesterday that I was a freshman. It flies by," Bader said following Florida’s 5-4 ousting to Virginia in the CWS. "But I’ve enjoyed every second of it."
But while Florida’s season is over, some of its players are still competing.
Seventeen current players are playing in summer leagues, including Alonso, Ryan Larson, Jeremy Vasquez, and four pitchers: Shaun Anderson, Dane Dunning, Logan Browning and Scott Moss.
In addition, returning pitchers Logan Shore and A.J. Puk, outfielder Buddy Reed and Schwarz were selected to join the USA Baseball Collegiate National team this summer.
Reed went 7-14 with four runs and five RBIs in four games while Schwarz hit 2-14 in five games.
Shore earned the win for the USA in its first of a three-game series against Chinese Taipei, a 6-4 victory on Saturday, pitching four scoreless innings and striking out five batters.
"These guys are resilient and we got a great club coming back," O’Sullivan said.
"Obviously I’m really proud of the seniors and juniors that will be moving on but we got an awfully good bunch coming back. We’re looking forward to hopefully getting back to (the CWS) next year."
Follow Ian Cohen on Twitter @icohenb.
UF's JJ Schwarz runs past third base and heads to score during the first inning of Florida's 13-5 win against Florida State in the NCAA Super Regionals on June 5, 2015, at McKethan Stadium.
