Gator Baseball Enjoys Opening Day Festivities in Omaha

The 2016 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska is in full swing. On the day before the World Series officially starts play, all the coaches held press conferences and then all eight teams had an hour to take the field at TD Ameritrade Park to practice. The Gators started practice at 3 p.m. central and got to work in front of fans and reporters.

#Gators taking first batting practice here in #Omaha @ESPNGainesville pic.twitter.com/7BdJAGGuuK

— Nicole Thompson (@NthompsonUF) June 17, 2016

After practice ended the Gators sat down to sign a couple hundred autographs for eager fans who made their way to Omaha.

#gator fans lined up for autographs here in #Omaha pic.twitter.com/qXiEjQpQT6

— Alex Puller (@AlexPuller) June 17, 2016

The fun started at night with the opening ceremonies. Each team paraded in as the announcer spoke about their “road to Omaha”. After all of the teams were seated on the field, awards were given out to the player from each team who had the highest GPA. Gator sophomore catcher Mark Kolozsvary led Florida with a team high 3.7 GPA as a Health Education and Behavior major. The highest GPA of any player at the CWS, or the Elite 90 award, was given to Tyler Floyd from Texas Tech, who holds a 4.0 GPA.

Next, the U.S. Army Golden Nights Parachute Team descended from the sky above the crowd carrying each of the eight teams flags. After John Mayer’s hit Free Falling stopped playing, and the parachute team safely landed on the ground, the College World Series was officially open.

The teams and fans were able to come together to celebrate the CWS with the “Omaha Jam”, a short concert put on by the X Ambassadors. The night ended with music and fireworks before the teams get back to business—competing for the national championship beginning Saturday.

Game 1 has UC Santa Barbara facing Oklahoma State at 3 p.m. with Game 2 between Arizona and Miami is set for 8 p.m. eastern.