GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- As Florida baseball is set to start a new season on Friday, Kevin O'Sullivan understands the expectations surrounding the team.

“There aren’t many programs that have been to 13 regionals in a row,” said the Gators head coach. “Obviously our expectation is to get to the World Series and compete for a national championship. We’re going to need a couple of these guys to step up.”

The expectations are once again high in Gainesville. The Gators were picked by the SEC coaches to finish second in the league.

Last season saw UF miss on the College World Series for the first time since 2014; it also marked the fewest wins in SEC play under O'Sullivan.

“There obviously were some tough spots for us, especially on the mound. But there were also some areas that were positive, and we’re trying to draw from that more than the negative part," said O'Sullivan.

“It’s a new year, new players, a whole different roster. The league’s as good as it’s ever been, especially from a pitching [standpoint]. We’re going to take it one day at a time.”

Despite making a NCAA Regional, last season UF fell short of expectations due to its youth. However, 2020 is set to see the return of a lot of familiar and experienced names, especially in the pitching staff.

Tommy Mace, Jack Leftwich and Nick Pogue are set to start in Florida's weekend series against Marshall.

“Tommy and Jack are going to have to pitch up to their capabilities,” O’Sullivan said. “Nick Pogue will be our third starter. He hasn’t given up a run this whole spring and he’s earned it. We have a couple of sophomores that are going to have to make a jump which they are certainly capable in David Luethje, Ben Specht, and Christian Scott.”

During the offseason, the Gators also reinforced the group by adding a few talented freshmen, including freshman Hunter Barco, who is regarded as one of the best left-handed pitcher in his class.

“I’m sure everybody knows the name Hunter Barco, he’s going to be one of the special ones that comes through here," said the Florida skipper. "Brandon Sproat, a kid from the panhandle, has as good of an arm as I’ve had as a freshman. Hunter Mink committed and had a big jump since the fall to the spring. We’ve got another little lefty named Ryan Cabarcas from Miami who is just coming off of mono and he’s going to throw his first pen today. He won’t be ready for the weekend."

Florida also added experience to the pitching staff by adding another left hander to the roster in grad transfer Trey Van Der Weide. Weide spent the last four seasons with the University of South Carolina Upstate Spartans.

"He’s just really, really reliable. We’ve got more options left-handed out of the bullpen."

Everyone has his role and O'Sullivan needs them to play it.

“It’s going to boil down to the three starting pitchers,” he said. “We weren’t very deep in 2017 either but we had three potential big leaguers. In the end, when it all shakes out… you can have all the depth you want, but it’s really the main guys that need to perform up to their capabilities, so hopefully they will.”

Florida will open the season Friday with a weekend series against Marshall starting at 6:30 p.m. This will mark the last time the baseball team will open up its season at McKethan Stadium before the program’s new ballpark opens this summer.