Junior
right-hander Jonathon Crawford (Okeechobee, Fla.) twirled a two-hit
shutout and was supported by a pair of three-run innings as Florida (12-16/3-5
SEC) evened its weekend series with No. 11 Ole Miss (23-5/4-4 SEC), 7-0, on
Saturday afternoon at McKethan Stadium. Crawford (1-4) set a season high with
eight strikeouts and permitted just two singles in registering his second
career complete game and second shutout, first since his 4-0 no-hitter against
Bethune-Cookman on June 1 in the 2012 NCAA Gainesville Regional. The shutout
was the first of the year for the Gators and ended a four-game losing streak.
“We
needed that,” Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “We needed to do
a good job saving our bullpen for the deciding game tomorrow, and Jonathon
Crawford was as sharp as he’s been all year long.”
“Whether
a hit is 75 feet or 400 feet, they all count the same in the scorebook. We’ll
take it; we’re battling. We’ve done a really great job the last two games and
their starter yesterday [Bobby Wahl] struck out just one. We faced another
outstanding starter today, [Mike] Mayers, and he struck out one. We’re battling
with two strikes, we just need to do a better job with offensive counts, but
with two strikes we’ve done a really good job this weekend.”
“I
felt really comfortable,” Crawford said. “I had my fastball and slider going
for me. I have always liked pitching in the warm weather but I don’t think it
has an effect on how well I pitch. The weeks in-between starts I just worked a
lot to find my rhythm.”
“I
felt really well in the bullpen. The focus was there and everything was in
rhythm. As a pitcher, it is always great to pitch with a lead. It takes a bunch
of pressure off you. It’s good to go out there and attack their hitters.”
The
Gators plated three runs on four hits against junior Mike Mayers (2-3) on the
second inning, with an RBI single by sophomore Connor Mitchell (Tampa,
Fla.) (1-for-4, two RBI) and a two-run double by sophomore Mike Fahrman
(Tampa, Fla.). Sophomore Justin Shafer (Lake Wales, Fla.) (1-for-4, two
runs) had led off with an infield hit and senior Vickash Ramjit (Miami,
Fla.) (3-for-4) reached on a bunt single with one down to put the Gators in
business. Mitchell opened the scoring with a base-hit through the right side
and Fahrman made his first career hit and RBI count with a double down the
right-field line. Senior Cody Dent (Boynton Beach, Fla.) sacrificed
Fahrman to third base with a bunt and Mayers had sophomore Casey Turgeon
(Palm Harbor, Fla.) pop up to hold the Rebels’ deficit at 3-0.
Crawford
retired the first nine Rebel hitters of the contest before senior Tanner Mathis
began the fourth with a single into left field. Sophomore Auston Bousfield
reached on a fielding error by Dent but then Crawford induced a 3-6-1 double
play from junior Austin Anderson that pushed Mathis to third base. The
right-hander struck out junior Stuart Turner to end the frame.
Crawford
recorded the first two outs of the sixth before Mathis drew a walk and
Bousfield punched a single into left field. Another free pass to Anderson
filled the bags and Crawford struck out Turner for the second time to preserve
the 3-0 lead for the Gators.
“It
was a big pitch,” O’Sullivan said about the inning-ending strikeout. “It was
one of those money pitches that decide the game. It was probably his best
breaking ball of the season, to be honest with you.”
In
the bottom of the stanza, Florida expanded its advantage to 6-0 with three runs
on three hits in two UM errors. Freshman Harrison Bader (Bronxville,
N.Y.) (2-for-4) led off with his first career homer into the left-field
bleachers to provide Florida with a 4-0 margin. Although sophomore Taylor
Gushue (Boca Raton, Fla.) followed with a walk and was picked off, Shafer
reached on a fielding error and moved to second on a failed pickoff attempt. The
Gators tacked on another run on an RBI single into center field by redshirt
sophomore Zack Powers (Seffner, Fla.) that brought home Shafer. Ramjit
singled through the left side to advance Powers to third and prompt a pitching
change. Junior Jeremy Massie replaced Mayers (5.1 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 4 ER) and
Mitchell collected his second RBI of the game with a grounder to first base to
give the hosts a 6-0 cushion.
Gushue
boosted UF’s lead to 7-0 with a two-out double down the left-field line in the
seventh that scored Turgeon, who had drawn a one-out walk and moved to second
on a grounder by Bader. The two-bagger was Gushue’s fourth of the campaign.
