Last season, Jonathon Crawford made his NCAA Tournament debut in historic fashion.
Crawford took the mound in the Gainesville Regional against Bethune-Cookman and pitched the best game of his career. He tossed the first Florida no-hitter in 11 years and the seventh no-hitter in NCAA Tournament history.
He faced the minimum 27 batters – the one batter he walked was caught stealing – while throwing only 98 pitches.
The game set the tone for Florida, which went on to win its next four games in the regionals and super regionals before falling in Omaha, Neb.
Crawford will try to get the Gators started on the right foot again this posts”eason. He will get the ball to start Florida’s (29-28) matchup with Austin Peay (45-13) Friday at 1 in the first game of the Bloomington (Ind.) Regional.
“Everyone was kind of anxious,” Crawford said. “We didn’t really know if we were going to make it or not with the year we were having.”
Crawford comes into Friday’s game on two weeks’ rest – the right-hander’s last outing came against Georgia on May 16. Crawford likely would have made Florida’s second start in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, but the Gators fell to the Aggies in the first round.
“We couldn’t schedule any other games,” O’Sullivan said. “We tried to simulate practices and scrimmages like they were real.”
Added Crawford: “We’ve just been coming out every day, just working hard, practicing just in case we did make a regional.”
Crawford said he is ready to pitch, but his last three outings have modeled the inconsistency of his season.
He pitched well against Georgia in his last start, going 6.2 innings and striking out five while only giving up one earned run.
And on May 2, he held No. 4 national seed LSU to two runs in a 3-2 loss in Baton Rouge.
But between those two starts, he picked up a loss after surrendering four runs to Auburn in four innings of work. Auburn did not get a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
“What you’ve done in the past doesn’t matter at this point,” O’Sullivan said.
But this year has been a different experience for Crawford.
The junior spent two seasons in a smaller role for the Gators, with more experienced pitchers like Hudson Randall and Brian Johnson in the rotation ahead of him.
Crawford was expected to bear a heavier load in 2013 and anchor a staff that lost five pitchers to the MLB Draft. The situation was exasperated when juniors Karsten Whitson and Keenan Kish suffered injuries early in the year.
Much like the rest of the team, the right-hander struggled to find consistency. He currently has an ERA .90 higher than in his sophomore campaign (3.13).
But the junior believes he and his team can pull it together and go on a run in the national tournament.
“We swept South Carolina earlier this year,” Crawford said. “We know we can do it; it’s just a matter of doing it.”
Crawford will have his work cut out for him. Austin Peay boasts a lineup that features six starters who are batting above .300. Junior Craig Massoni leads the team with a .388 average and 16 homers. Senior Cody Hudon is hitting at a .365 clip and leads the team with 30 steals – more than twice the amount Florida’s steals leader Harrison Bader has.
The Governors led the Ohio Valley Conference in batting average, on-base percentage and stolen bases while finishing second in home runs.
“They’re offensive,” O'Sullivan said. “They got a couple guys that can really run. … They’re good. At this point in the season, everybody’s good.”
Contact Adam Lichtenstein at alichtenstein@alligatorsports.org.
Jonathon Crawford pitches against Florida Gulf Coast on Feb. 22 at McKethan Stadium. Crawford threw a no-hitter against Bethune-Cookman in the first game of the NCAA Regionals last season.
