Florida baseball tasted success last season.
A 50-win season.
A Southeastern Conference Tournament title.
A trip to the College World Series.
But the Gators still feel the sting of coming up short once again, finishing yet another season without a national title.
And while the 2016 season is still about four months away, Florida is already working on how to improve on last year’s achievements as it begins Fall scrimmages.
"It’s a dream come true," starting pitcher Logan Shore said of playing in the College World Series, "but we’re obviously hungry to get back at it again and hopefully come out on top."
After a two-year hiatus, the Gators returned to the College World Series with the program’s first national title almost in their grasp.
They carried a 10-game postseason win streak into Omaha, Nebraska, surging at the right time.
But eventual champion Virginia knew how to contain Florida, single-handedly eliminating UF from the double-elimination portion of the bracket.
The final dagger came on a 5-4 loss on June 20, a back-and-forth game decided by a seventh-inning sac fly by Virginia’s Kenny Towns.
"You’ve got to play right at the right time," UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. "I thought we were playing really well at the end of the year, so it was disappointing, but we haven’t focused on that.
"We’ve been just trying to get better and hopefully we’ll put ourselves in a position to get back there this year."
And O’Sullivan said this year’s group has the talent to do just that.
Florida returns four starting pitchers — Shore, fellow juniors A.J. Puk and Dane Dunning, and sophomore Alex Faedo — who compiled a 31-13 record on the mound.
UF also returns six position starters, highlighted by sophomore catcher/designated hitter JJ Schwarz and junior outfielder Buddy Reed.
Schwarz, a consensus All-American and the Louisville Slugger co-Freshman of the Year last season, paced the Gators in slugging percentage (.629), RBIs (73) and home runs (18).
Reed led Florida with 86 hits and had a team-high-tying five triples.
But even with O’Sullivan having an experienced group returning, the talent is magnified by his 13-person recruiting class that Baseball America ranked No. 2 in the country.
O’Sullivan, entering his ninth season as UF’s head coach, said he could expect as many as three to four freshmen contributing on a regular basis just like last season.
"Obviously they’ve got to earn it," O’Sullivan said, "but I feel comfortable and confident that a few of these freshmen will step in right away."
Follow Jordan McPherson on Twitter @J_McPherson1126
Florida's Logan Shore (32) pitches during the Gators' 15-3 victory against Miami in the NCAA Men's College World Series on Saturday, June 13, 2015 at the TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha.
