Series Preview: Florida begins 2023 season with series against Charleston Southern

The grass is cut, the lights on the scoreboard have been replaced and it’s time once again to begin another Florida Gators baseball season.

UF starts its season with a weekend series at home against the Charleston Southern Buccaneers, and it will be a chance for the Gators to see how the new-look starting rotation fares against a beatable opponent. Gone is Hunter Barco after being selected in the second round of the 2022 MLB draft, but head coach Kevin O'Sullivan has reloaded with Southern Miss and Preseason All-American Hurston Waldrep. Not to mention Florida’s retention of last year’s No. 2, Brandon Sproat, despite a third-round selection in the draft.

Two-way sophomore Jac Caglianone, who spent the second half last season as the team’s designated hitter, should get the Sunday start. It’ll be his first competitive game back on the mound since undergoing Tommy John surgery as a senior in high school.

On offense, all eyes are on projected first-round pick Wyatt Langford. The Gators’ left fielder tied the team’s season record for home runs a season ago and led Florida in nearly every major offensive statistic. He’ll be the biggest bat in the lineup this year, but there are plenty of others that can hit on the team.

Catcher BT Riopelle, shortstop Josh Rivera and third baseman Colby Halter all return despite interest from the pros. They’ll be looked at as the leaders of the team early.

Finally, there are the freshmen. As usual, Florida has an incredibly strong freshman class on the roster and they are most likely to get playing time early in the year. Fans could be seeing some of the future this weekend.

Projected Starting Lineup

Probable Starters: Friday (7 p.m. EDT)

NOTES: Sproat is the returning ace for Florida this season, and he got a chance to test out the role last year once Hunter Barco went down. The mission is clear this season: get to Omaha. Sproat doesn’t need to strike out 10 every time out or no-hit the Charleston Southern’s of the world for Florida to get back to the College World Series, but he does need to be consistent at the top of the rotation

He found some of that consistency down the stretch last season, going 5-0 with a 1.59 ERA through his final six starts. Getting things started in a similar fashion to kick off 2023 would be ideal.

For the Buccaneers, senior right-hander Zac Robinson is on the bump for Opening Day. He appeared in 21 games last season, mostly in a relief role, and finished the year with a 9.48 ERA over 31 1/3 innings. He made one start in 2022. Opposing hitters batted .313 against him, but he did strike out (30) twice as many as he walked (15).

Probable Starters: Saturday (4 p.m. EST)

NOTES: On Saturday, Florida fans will get their first real look at Hurston Waldrep in Orange and Blue. After striking out 140 through 90 innings for Southern Miss a season ago, Waldrep is a legitimate 1B to Sproat. He has a legitimate chance to go in the first 20 picks of the upcoming draft, so expect Waldrep to be at his best this season.

For Charleston Southern, lefty Ryan Gleason will take the mound in Game 2 of the weekend series. Gleason, a Virginia Tech transfer, struggled a season ago across 17 appearances (five starts). He finished the year with a 12.76 ERA through 18 1/3 innings, so this should be another arm that Florida can shell. He walks more batters than he strikes out, so that should help the Gators too.

Probable Starters: Sunday (1 p.m. EST)

Evan Truitt might be the Buccaneers’ best starting option despite being the youngest, and it’s typical for weaker clubs to throw their best arm on Sunday in a series like this. He’ll matchup with Florida’s two-way lefty Jac Caglianone in his first start since undergoing Tommy John surgery as a senior in high school.

There isn’t much to go off on Caglianone just yet, but O’Sullivan was bragging about his ability to hit near triple digits on the radar during a preseason presser. Florida needs him to be a viable starting option to be at its best this year, so this is the test run.

Other Players to Watch

Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat

Truitt is the guy to watch on Charleston Southern, but there are a few other names to watch out for in this series. The Bucs lost five of six position players that batted over .300 a season ago, but infielder Tyrell Brewer is back for another year after batting .303 over the past two seasons. He’s a former Florida State Seminole, so he’s likely more familiar with Florida than the rest of CSU’s club.

Senior infielder Connor Aldrich is looking to improve this year too, as is two-way lefty Casey Asman, who batted .280 last season.

Series History

NOTES: Florida and Southern Charleston haven’t met up on the baseball diamond in over a decade, but the series history is strongly in favor of the Gators. The Buccaneers did win the last matchup in March 2010 but didn’t take the series.

Fun Fact

In 2003 and 2005, Florida and Charleston Southern played a pair of games that went into extra innings. The Gators won 10-9 in the 10th inning in 2003 and lost 5-4 in the 11th inning in 2005.

Follow the Action

FRIDAY (7 p.m. EST)

• Watch: SEC Network+

• Listen: ESPN 98.1FM/850AM WRUF

• Live Stream: fuboTV (try it free)

SATURDAY (4 p.m. EST)

• Watch: SEC Network+

• Listen: ESPN 98.1FM/850AM WRUF

• Live Stream: fuboTV (try it free)

SUNDAY (1 p.m. EST)

• Watch: SEC Network+

• Listen: ESPN 98.1FM/850AM WRUF

• Live Stream: fuboTV (try it free)

* Watch links go directly to game feed

Predictions

GAME 1: Florida, 9-2

GAME 2: Florida, 7-4

GAME 3: Florida, 6-4

SERIES: Florida is on a mission this year and needs to start the season off strong. Claiming two of three should be easy, but Sunday could be one of those trap games that prove to be far trickier than expected. I don’t expect Caglianone to shine in his first start, but he’ll get the job done in the end. The rest of the weekend should go according to plan.

The Gators get the season started off right, 3-0.

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Read more

Check out Gators Wire’s other position previews for the 2023 season:

• Catchers

• First Basemen

• Second Basemen

• Third Basemen

• Shortstops

• Otufielders

• Starting Pitchers

• Relief Pitchers

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

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