GAINESVILLE, Fla.- In addition to being the unanimous preseason No. 1 team nationally, Florida Baseball enters the 2021 season atop the 30th annual preseason Southeastern Conference poll, as announced by the league office Thursday.
The league’s 14 coaches voted, with 12 of them listing the Gators as their preseason SEC champion, and 13 choosing Florida as the favorite to win the SEC East.
The top-ranked Gators open their 2021 campaign with the inaugural game at Florida Ballpark at Alfred A. McKethan Field next Friday (Feb. 19) against No. 21 Miami.
Sophomore outfielder Jud Fabian was voted a Preseason All-SEC First Team selection. Fabian was also a D1Baseball Preseason All-America First Team selection, and one of two unanimous selections to Baseball America’s Preseason All-America First Team, which is chosen by members of Major League Baseball scouting departments.
Three Gators – junior right-handed pitcher Tommy Mace, freshman infielder Josh Rivera, and sophomore right-handed pitcher Ben Specht – were Preseason All-SEC Second Team picks.
Mace, who garnered preseason All-America honors from D1Baseball and Baseball America, was chosen as a starting pitcher, while Rivera received the nod at shortstop, and Specht made the team as a relief pitcher.
Florida returns eight of nine position starters and all three of its weekend starting pitchers from its 2020 team. The Gators finished the 2020 campaign ranked 16th nationally in team earned run average (2.41) and 12th nationally in home runs (21). Florida’s bullpen, the vast majority of which returns for 2021, posted a 1.76 ERA across 76.2 innings pitched last season.
Six of the returners are ranked<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.baseballamerica.com_rankings_2021-2Dmlb-2Ddraft-2Dtop-2Dprospects_&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=VYA3hlLJQ-N0PaF4UQ58hrLzuD8lfmmVb6LuYvVIjY4&s=iWrO2x3pe80HFHMpaopKJJxCryqhb6B3LREumHyJLyw&e= > in Baseball America’s 2021 Major League Baseball Draft Top 200 Prospects, a figure which ranks second nationally.
* Jud Fabian, Outfielder – No. 11
* Tommy Mace, Right-Handed Pitcher – No. 38
* Ben Specht, Right-Handed Pitcher – No. 92
* Jack Leftwich, Right-Handed Pitcher – No. 139
* Nathan Hickey, Catcher / Infielder – No. 183
* Christian Scott, Right-Handed Pitcher – No. 191
The strong contingent of returners is accompanied by D1Baseball’s No. 6-ranked class of newcomers.
“The Gators already had the most talented roster in the country returning to campus this fall,” Aaron Fitt says in the site’s breakdown<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__d1baseball.com_recruiting_2021-2Dnewcomer-2Dbreakdowns-2Drecruiting-2Dclasses-2D6-2D10_&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=VYA3hlLJQ-N0PaF4UQ58hrLzuD8lfmmVb6LuYvVIjY4&s=EwJb1zaOvdBNwR2jN5rnVmZKtFAj2vAQxlS75Nxbjsg&e= >. “And the rich got richer with this class, which gives the Gators another bumper crop of impact position players in the freshman class as well as a premier freshman lefty and a marquee arm from the juco ranks.”
Fitt labels left-handed pitcher Timmy Manning, infielders Colby Halter, Jordan Carrion, and Sterlin Thompson, and junior college transfer right-handed pitcher Franco Aleman as the stars of Florida’s crop of newcomers.
Florida faces eight teams ranked in D1Baseball’s preseason release. Four of those teams will make trips to Gainesville this season.
* vs. No. 21 Miami – Feb. 19-21
* vs. No. 24 Florida State – March 16 (Tallahassee), April 13 (Gainesville)
* at No. 18 South Carolina – March 26-28
* vs. No. 6 Ole Miss – April 1-3
* at No. 19 Tennessee – April 9-11
* at No. 23 Auburn – April 23-25
* vs. No. 4 Vanderbilt – April 30-May 2
* at No. 8 Arkansas – May 20-22
2021 SEC Baseball Coaches Preseason Poll
Eastern Division
1. Florida (13) – 91
2. Vanderbilt (1) – 79
3. Tennessee – 58
4. South Carolina – 55
5. Georgia – 51
6. Missouri – 28
7. Kentucky – 23
Western Division
1. Ole Miss (7) – 78
2. Mississippi State (3) – 73
3. Arkansas (2) – 72
4. LSU (2) – 63
5. Texas A&M – 36
6. Auburn – 32
7. Alabama – 31
() – First place votes
SEC Champion: Florida (12), Mississippi State (1), Vanderbilt (1)
2021 SEC Baseball Coaches Preseason All-SEC Team
First Team
C: Casey Opitz, Arkansas
1B: T.J. Collett, Kentucky
2B: Robert Moore, Arkansas
3B: Rankin Woley, Auburn
SS: Ryan Bliss, Auburn
OF: Jud Fabian, Florida
OF: Christian Franklin, Arkansas
OF: Tanner Allen, Mississippi State
DH/UTL: Matt Goodheart, Arkansas
SP: Kumar Rocker, Vanderbilt
SP: Connor Prielipp, Alabama
RP: Devin Fontenot, LSU
Second Team
C: Hayden Dunhurst, Ole Miss
1B: Josh Hatcher, Mississippi State
2B: Max Ferguson, Tennessee
3B: Tim Elko, Ole Miss
SS: Josh Rivera, Florida
OF: Rowdey Jordan, Mississippi State
OF: Owen Diodati, Alabama
OF: Cade Beloso, LSU
DH/UTL: Wes Clarke, South Carolina
SP: Jack Leiter, Vanderbilt
SP: Tommy Mace, Florida
RP: Ben Specht, Florida
