Florida’s road to return to Omaha has been revealed.
The Gators, led by ninth-year head coach Kevin O’Sullivan, released their 56-game schedule for the 2016 season Wednesday.
Florida’s non-conference schedule includes contests against eight Florida teams, including home-and-home series against Central Florida and North Florida as well as three midweek contests against Florida State.
After starting the year on Feb. 19 with a five-game homestand, UF hits the road for a three-game series against Miami, its first of four matchups against teams that played in the 2015 College World Series.
Highlighting UF’s Southeastern Conference Schedule are home series with Georgia (April 22-24) and Vanderbilt (May 13-15) and a road series with LSU (May 19-21) to conclude regular-season play.
The Gators finished 52-18 last season, won the SEC Tournament and reached the College World Series for the first time since 2012.
Florida returns all four of its starting pitchers from last year: rising juniors Logan Shore (11-6, 2.72 ERA), A.J. Puk (9-4, 3.81 ERA) and Dane Dunning (5-2, 4.03 ERA) as well as rising sophomore Alex Faedo (6-1, 3.23 ERA).
The Gators also return six players who started at least 39 games, most notably All-Americans JJ Schwarz and Buddy Reed. Schwarz led the Gators with 18 home runs, 73 RBIs and a .629 slugging percentage in his freshman season, while Reed had a team-best 86 hits and a team-high-tying five triples.
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UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan watches from outside the dugout during the Gators' 9-7 loss to Southern Miss. in game one of NCAA Super Regional play in McKethan stadium Saturday, June 6, 2009. O'Sullivan and the Gators were eliminated from the 2014 NCAA Tournament in the regional round on Saturday.
