Florida’s pitching owned a Southeastern Conference opponent for the first time this season. Freshman left-hander Danny Young tossed 5.1 scoreless innings as Florida (13-16, 4-5 SEC) defeated No. 11 Ole Miss (23-6, 4-5 SEC) 4-0 on Sunday afternoon at McKethan Stadium to earn its first conference series win this season.
Gators starters held the Rebels to three earned runs in 18.2 innings during the weekend. Junior right-hander Jonathon Crawford threw a complete-game, two-hit shutout on Saturday. Young continued the prowess on the mound in the first conference start of his career. Sophomore right-hander Johnny Magliozzi followed Young and picked up his fifth save, pitching the final 3.2 innings. Florida hadn’t posted back-to-back shutouts since 2010.
“It’s not easy to do in college baseball,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said of shutting out the Rebels. “To be able to do it back-to-back games against a quality team like Ole Miss certainly says a lot about our pitching.”
Crawford struck out eight on Saturday. He attacked hitters with a mid-90s fastball and a nasty slider. Young struck out one while keeping the ball low. Seven of his 16 outs came on the ground.
The Florida defense helped Young with its 13th errorless game. After Young hit Austin Anderson, the second batter of the game, right fielder Justin Shafer caught a line drive and fired to Ramjit at first to complete an inning-ending double play.
Young settled down after allowing four base runners in the first three innings.
Dating back to last weekend’s series against Vanderbilt, Young has given up one earned run in 11.1 innings. Although he picked up the loss, Young kept No. 5 Florida State to one run in four innings in a 2-1 loss on Tuesday.
The appearance gave the freshman added confidence.
“That just shows his character,” senior first baseman Vickash Ramjit said. “Freshman or not he doesn’t consider himself a freshman, because he is not pitching like one.”
O’Sullivan told Young at 8:30 a.m. that the southpaw would start Sunday’s game. Once the contest started 4 hours and 30 minutes later, his teammates backed him up with four runs before the fourth inning.
Two errors and a wild pitch scored catcher Taylor Gushue in the first. After wasting a bases-loaded opportunity with no outs in the second, Florida added three more in the third. Shafer drove in Gushue on his team-leading 12th double this season. Ramjit broke a 13-game homerless streak with a two-run shot into the left-field bleachers.
After the Gators chased Rebels starter Chris Ellis in the third, three relievers combined to keep Florida in check, but it did not matter. Young and Magliozzi buckled down and did not allow a baserunner to reach third until the eighth.
With Florida still without a consistent Sunday starter, both pitchers could fill the role. Young has earned a shot for another start. Had Magliozzi not thrown 24 pitches on Friday, he would’ve been a candidate to start the finale, O’Sullivan said.
Florida needed a victory in the rubber match. Adversity hit the Gators hard. Injuries crippled their bullpen, middle infield and rotation.
Florida wasted three opportunities to take the series opener on Friday. Yet, Crawford and Young stepped up with their team starving for something positive.
“We’ve been waiting for a weekend to turn the corner and to take a big step in the right direction,” O’Sullivan said. “I hope this weekend will do that for our team.”
Contact Adam Pincus at apincus@alligator.org.
Freshman pitcher Danny Young warms up on the mound before Florida’s 4-0 victory against Ole Miss on March 31 at McKethan Stadium. Young picked up the loss in the Gators' 18-6 loss to the Tigers on Saturday.
