Sophomore Jonathon Crawford (Okeechobee, Fla.) (2-1) tossed
five shutout frames in his SEC debut and No. 1 Florida (19-1/3-0 SEC) matched
its season high with three home runs in an 8-2 win over Vanderbilt (7-13/0-3
SEC) that completed a weekend sweep on Sunday afternoon at McKethan Stadium.
The Gators stretched their winning streak to 17 games and have started league
action 3-0 for the fourth time in five seasons under Kevin O’Sullivan.
Crawford was supported by a UF offense that produced solo homers
from freshman Taylor Gushue (Boca Raton, Fla.) in the second inning,
senior Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) as part of a three-run third inning
and freshman Casey Turgeon (Palm Harbor, Fla.) (2-for-2) in the fifth
frame. The Gators played flawless defense for the third day in a row.
“I
thought our effort was really good today,” O’Sullivan said. “Sundays, typically
as a coach, you have to motivate them a little bit more because it’s the third
game of a series and you don’t want your team to be complacent after they’ve
won the first two. Today, I thought they were outstanding. Jonathon [Crawford]
was really, really good today. After every start, I keep saying the same thing,
but it seems like he gets better and better each time he goes out there. I was
really proud of the way he threw the ball today. Obviously, not using Paco
[Steven Rodriguez] or [Austin] Maddox very much in the first two games, we were
able to go to Paco in the sixth inning.”
“I
threw strikes and used my defense,” Crawford said. “I walked a few guys, but I
worked out of it and used my defense well. I’m learning to use my change-up and
when to throw certain pitches in certain situations. My slider was really working
today. That’s what kept me in most of the time.”
Vanderbilt had runners on the corners with one down in the first
inning against Crawford but the right-hander kept the Commodores scoreless. Sophomore
Tony Kemp had a one-out infield single, stole second and went to third on a
passed ball. Junior Mike Yastrzemski drew a walk for runners at first and third
and Crawford induced an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play on a grounder by junior
Anthony Gomez. It was the first double play turned by the Gators in the series.
Gushue opened the scoring with a two-out solo homer over the
scoreboard overlooking right field in the second inning. Vanderbilt freshman
Tyler Beede (0-3) had set down the first five hitters he faced before Gushue
connected on a 1-2 pitch for his fifth round-tripper of the campaign.
The Gators tacked on three more runs in the third on a RBI
grounder by junior Nolan Fontana (Winter Garden, Fla.), a sacrifice fly
by senior Daniel Pigott (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and a solo shot by Tucker to
take a 4-0 lead. Turgeon led off with a single into right field and a base-hit
by freshman Josh Tobias (Greensboro, N.C.) into shallow right field resulted
in runners on second and third when Turgeon was safe at third on the relay
throw and Tobias took second. Fontana drove in Turgeon with a grounder to
second base and Pigott plated Tobias with his fourth sac fly of the year. Tucker
followed with a laser off the scoreboard for his team-leading eighth homer, the
49th dinger of his career and his second blast of the series.
Yastrzemski drew a leadoff walk in the fourth and Crawford
responded by having Gomez hit into a 6-3 double play and sophomore Conrad
Gregor strike out.
Junior Connor Harrell (2-for-3) was plunked to start the fifth,
went to second on a grounder by freshman Vince Conde and swiped third when
Crawford struck out senior Riley Reynolds. The righty stranded the runner by
having sophomore Spencer Navin ground out to Fontana at shortstop. Over five
shutout innings, Crawford totaled six strikeouts and allowed three hits, with
two walks and a hit batter. Turgeon provided the Gators with a 5-0 lead in the
home part of the inning with a lead-off homer to right field for his third
jack.
“He
[Crawford] threw a bunch of sliders for strikes and he threw a couple of really
good change-ups, too,” O’Sullivan said. “He’s got a really good sink to his
fastball. I think when he led one inning off with a walk, he threw a really
good sinker, got a ground out into a double play to stop some momentum there.
Jonathon’s using his stuff better and I was really pleased with how he threw
the ball today.”
The Commodores got on the board in the sixth on an RBI double by Gomez
off junior Steven Rodriguez (Miami, Fla.) that brought across Yastrzemski,
who had a one-out single up the middle. A grounder by Gregor advanced Gomez to
third base and Rodriguez fanned redshirt junior pinch hitter Jack Lupo to keep
the Gators ahead by a 5-1 count.
Freshman Jared Miller replaced Beede (5.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 6 K) prior
to UF’s sixth at bat and set down the Gators in order. Rodriguez recorded the
first two outs of the seventh before freshman Will Cooper had a pinch-hit
single into left field and Navin followed with a base-hit through the left
side. However, Tucker made a great sliding catch on a liner by Kemp to preserve
Florida’s four-run lead.
The Gators had a pair of runners aboard in the seventh but could not
pad their lead. Freshman Justin Shafer (Lake Wales, Fla.) reached on a
one-out infield single and took second on a wild pitch before a walk to Turgeon
prompted a pitching change. Redshirt junior Will Clinard took over for Miller
(1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB), picked Shafer off second base and had Tobias fly out to
right field.
Rodriguez (2.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R) had Yastrzemski ground out to begin
the eighth and junior Austin Maddox (Jacksonville, Fla.) came in and had
Gomez ground out and Gregor fly out.
Florida added three runs in the eighth to build an 8-1 advantage. Fontana
earned a free pass and was safe at second base on a fielder’s choice by Pigott
before Tucker walked to load the bags with none out. Junior Mike Zunino
(Cape Coral, Fla.) lofted his fourth sacrifice fly into straightaway center
field to score Fontana and sophomore Steven Rice came in for Clinard (1.0 IP, 0
H, 3 R). Junior Brian Johnson (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) greeted the reliever
with a base-knock into center field and Gushue had his first career sacrifice
fly to give the hosts a seven-run lead.
In the ninth, Harrell singled up the middle with one down, stole
second base uncontested and scored on a two-out single by redshirt junior
Andrew Harris. The run ended a stretch of 20-consecutive scoreless appearances
by Maddox dating back to April 15, 2011, at Georgia. Florida will complete its
10-game home-stand on Tuesday at 7 p.m. when Samford (13-7/4-2 SoCon) visits
McKethan Stadium.
