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Gator Baseball will be back at the Mac for their annual Alumni Scrimmage game ahead of their 2019 season on Saturday. There are 23 alumni players scheduled to play in the scrimmage. Before the game fans can also take pictures with the 2017 National Championship trophy and the 2018 SEC Championship trophy.
Star Alumni
Four of the alumni playing in Saturday’s game have reached the MLB including LHP Kevin Chapman, OF Matt den Dekker, 1B Matt LaPorta, OF Justin Shafer.
Some of the more recent Gator Alums include– C Mark Kolozsvary (2015-17), LHP Danny Young (2013-15), RHP Aaron Rhodes (2013-15), and C Mike Fahrman (2012-15).
2019 Season Predictions
The Gator are preseason ranked No. 6th. Florida is also picked to finish behind Vanderbilt and LSU in the SEC.
Also, junior pitcher Tyler Dyson was voted Second Team Preseason All-SEC. It is likely he’ll be the new Friday night starter. Dyson has a 9-3 record and 3.93 ERA.
Other Gator Baseball News
On Friday, Scott Stricklin, Kevin O’Sullivan and President Fuchs, among others, opened ground on the new baseball stadium. There were about 150 guests there to watch the ceremony. The ball park is scheduled to cost $65,000,000 and is supposed to be done by 2021. The current stadium (Alfred A. Mckethan) was built back in 1988.
Today marked the first step in the construction of our new home! #Gators @ScottStricklin @DODay56 @JeffCardozoUF @The_MattLaPorta pic.twitter.com/b6dlB2kn58
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) February 8, 2019
Friday, O’Sullivan said how pumped he is for the future. “This is an exciting day. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t pinch myself. I’m very fortunate to be a part of something this special.”
Game Time
First pitch for the Alumni game starts at 6:00pm, but batting practice starts at 3:50pm admission is free.
Next weekend Florida will be opening its season against Long Beach State. It’ll be a three-game series that starts February 15th at 6:30pm.
