| 2024 Florida Gators baseball | |
|---|---|
 | |
College World Series, 2–2 | |
| Conference | Southeastern Conference |
| Eastern Division | |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 6 |
| D1Baseball.com | No. 8 |
| Record | 36–30 (13–17 SEC) |
| Head coach |
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| Assistant coaches |
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| Home stadium | Condron Ballpark |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eastern | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 1 Tennessee x†‡y | 22 | – | 8 | .733 | 60 | – | 13 | .822 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 3 Kentucky x†y | 22 | – | 8 | .733 | 46 | – | 16 | .742 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 11 Georgia y | 17 | – | 13 | .567 | 43 | – | 17 | .717 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vanderbilt y | 13 | – | 17 | .433 | 38 | – | 23 | .623 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 8 Florida y | 13 | – | 17 | .433 | 36 | – | 30 | .545 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Carolina y | 13 | – | 17 | .433 | 37 | – | 25 | .597 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Missouri | 9 | – | 21 | .300 | 23 | – | 32 | .418 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Western | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 17 Arkansas xy | 20 | – | 10 | .667 | 44 | – | 16 | .733 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 2 Texas A&M y | 19 | – | 11 | .633 | 53 | – | 15 | .779 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 22 Mississippi State y | 17 | – | 13 | .567 | 40 | – | 23 | .635 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alabama y | 13 | – | 17 | .433 | 33 | – | 24 | .579 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LSU y | 13 | – | 17 | .433 | 43 | – | 23 | .652 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ole Miss | 11 | – | 19 | .367 | 27 | – | 29 | .482 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Auburn | 8 | – | 22 | .267 | 27 | – | 26 | .509 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| x – Division champion † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 24, 2024[1] Rankings from D1Baseball | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2024 Florida Gators baseball team represented the University of Florida in the sport of baseball during the 2024 college baseball season. Florida competed in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Home games were played at Condron Ballpark on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus, in the fourth season at the ballpark. The team was coached by Kevin O'Sullivan in his seventeenth season as Florida's head coach. The Gators entered the season looking to return to the College World Series after finishing as the national runner-up to LSU in last year's NCAA tournament, as well as defend their 2023 SEC championship.
The Gators' turbulent regular season began with a season-opening loss to St. John's in a rain-curtailed series. This set the tone for the non-conference slate, as Florida went 8–6 in midweek games, including a sweep by Florida State in their annual rivalry series. The Gators opened conference play with three ranked series wins, including on the road in a national championship rematch against LSU, and against 2024 College World Series team Texas A&M. This start was derailed when the Gators were swept by last-place Missouri, with Missouri winning each game by a single run. They continued to add to their conference deficit by winning only one game in each of their next five series, including back-to-back-to-back series against top five teams in Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky. However, Florida was able to log a final series win at No. 9 Georgia. This guaranteed they would meet the minimum eligibility criterion for a potential at-large bid to the 2024 NCAA Division I baseball tournament despite their first round loss to Vanderbilt in the conference tournament.
With a 28–27 record, the Gators were awarded the third seed in the Stillwater regional, where they overcame the losers' bracket to win over host Oklahoma State. This set up a Super Regional showdown against No. 6 national seed Clemson, and marked the first time head coach Kevin O'Sullivan would return to Clemson since he departed Jack Leggett's staff after the 2007 season when he was hired by Florida.[2] Florida completed the sweep in what was billed as instant classic when Michael Robertson hit a walk-off, 2-RBI double in the 13th inning after 5 hours and 4 minutes, claiming Game 2 11–10, and sending the Gators to their fourteenth College World Series just a year after coming up short against LSU in the national championship series.[3]
At the College World Series, a sluggish offensive performance in which the Gators struck out 16 times and went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position resulted in a 3–2 loss to Texas A&M in the opening round.[4] However, victories against NC State and Kentucky in the losers' bracket set up a rematch against Texas A&M in the semifinal. The season would ultimately come to an end here, where the Gators were again sluggish on offense, this time hitting 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position in a 6–0 shutout loss, falling short of returning to the CWS Championship Series.[5]
- ^ "2024 SEC Baseball Standings". secsports.com. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
- ^ Carter, Scott (June 7, 2024). "Friends & Foes: Gators-Clemson Series Stirs Memories for O'Sullivan, Bakich". floridagators.com. University Athletic Assoc., Inc., Fox Sports Sun, IMG College. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
- ^ Carter, Scott (June 9, 2024). "Gators Win an Instant Classic, Earn Trip to College World Series". floridagators.com. University Athletic Assoc., Inc., Fox Sports Sun, IMG College. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
- ^ Carter, Scott (June 16, 2024). "College World Series: Texas A&M 3, Gators 2 — Kurland Robbed of Go-Ahead Homer, UF Cold with Runners on Base". floridagators.com. University Athletic Assoc., Inc., Fox Sports Sun, IMG College. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
- ^ Carter, Scott (June 19, 2024). "College World Series: Texas A&M 6, Gators 0 — Four Aggie Pitchers Combine for 4-Hit Shutout to End Gators' Postseason Run". floridagators.com. University Athletic Assoc., Inc., Fox Sports Sun, IMG College. Retrieved June 21, 2024.