Gators earn preseason All-America status from Baseball Writers Association
Florida Gators baseball has placed two players on the 21st Annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Preseason All-America teams: left-handed pitcher Hunter Barco (first team) and outfielder Jud Fabian (second team).
The NCBWA announcements represents Barco's fifth preseason All-America nod and third first-team accolade of the 2022 campaign. As for Fabian, the honor comes as his fourth preseason All-America mention including his first second-team accolade.
Barco, Fabian and outfielder Sterlin Thompson have combined for 10 preseason All-America awards across five publications already this season: four first team, three second team and three third team.
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More honors:Gators pitcher Barco, outfielder Fabian named First-Team Preseason All-Americans
Barco, a Jacksonville native, is coming off a 2021 season when he was named to the Newcomer All-SEC Team and Southeast-ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Second Team. While pacing the Gators with 10 wins in a team-high 16 starts, Barco finished the year with a 4.01 ERA, .239 batting average against and 94 strikeouts in 83 innings pitched. As a freshman, Barco went 2-0 with a 1.40 ERA and 26 strikeouts across 19.1 frames.
As for Fabian, the Ocala native returns to UF for a fourth season. In 2021, he became just the fifth Gator to hit 20 home runs in a single season en route to collecting Third Team All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball and the NCBWA. Overall, he is a .249/.366/.512 career hitter with 32 homers, 25 doubles, 102 runs and 85 RBI in 132 games.
Florida opens the 2022 season at home the weekend of Feb. 18-20 with a three-game series against Liberty.
Preseason All-American Gators
Hunter Barco: First Team (Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, NCBWA); Second Team (D1Baseball, Perfect Game)
Jud Fabian: First Team (Collegiate Baseball); Second Team (NCBWA); Third Team (Baseball America, Perfect Game)
Sterlin Thompson: Third Team (Baseball America)