The Gators got what they had been waiting all season for on Saturday: last year’s version of Jonathon Crawford.
Jay Carmichael finally met his match on Friday night.
Baseball can be a cruel game. Florida felt its wrath yet again Friday at McKethan Stadium. Baserunning mistakes killed rallies. Two-out baserunners taxed Florida pitchers. Three innings offered opportunities to win the game. Three times the Gators couldn’t come through.
Jay Carmichael is no stranger to facing elite Southeastern Conference hitting. The freshman right-hander toes the rubber against No. 11 Ole Miss (22-4, 3-3 SEC) on Friday night at 7 a week after shutting down No. 5 Vanderbilt on the road. Carmichael entered the season as an unknown bullpen commodity. He has since emerged as the Friday night starter, leapfrogging heralded ace Jonathon Crawford.
JACKSONVILLE—Florida came inches keeping Florida State from scoring the go-ahead run at The Baseball Grounds. Reactions from both teams told the story. Soft-hitting Florida State shortstop Giovanny Alfonzo raised his right fist in the air in celebration as he crossed first base after singling home Jose Brizuela. The bubble burst in the Florida dugout. After eight-and-a-half innings of sticking with the nation’s No. 2 team, the Gators fell short again.
JACKSONVILLE — Trying to cap off his most dominant performance this year, Danny Young made his biggest mistake of the season.
The Gators ran out of time on Sunday in Nashville, Tenn.
Jonathon Crawford did not pitch like a man starved for run support on Saturday night. The junior surrendered six earned runs on 12 hits in six innings, taking the loss in Florida's 6-1 defeat to No. 2 Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn. The loss was UF's first on the road this season.
Friday night started as a showcase of an elite Southeastern Conference pitcher. It ended with the coronation of another.
The Gators took off for Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday morning for their first Southeastern Conference road matchup this season.
Taylor Gushue got the cold shoulder from his teammates after one of his best moments this season.
The Gators’ frustration spilled over into a scuffle in the eighth inning of Sunday’s loss. Florida first baseman Vickash Ramjit exchanged words with Kentucky’s Matt Reida after another Wildcats runner scored. Umpires separated the two as coaches ran onto the field to diffuse the situation. UF had plenty to be frustrated about.
The Gators are still waiting for everything to come together.
Jonathon Crawford walked off the mound after a start that began with promise but ended with frustration. He left the bases loaded in the seventh. Crawford threw his glove in the dugout for good reason.
After Corey Stump pegged his second batter in a row, he put his face in his glove.
Tempers flared in the early going between Florida and Kentucky. Wildcats shortstop Matt Reida found himself in middle of rundown while stealing second. First baseman Vickash Ramjit applied a hard tag. Reida fell and pushed Ramjit while getting up. Benches cleared. First-base umpire Steve Manders yelled at the Florida dugout to get off the field.
Even though right-hander Jonathon Crawford has not been his best this season, coach Kevin O’Sullivan liked what he saw from his junior ace in a bullpen session on Wednesday. Crawford is returning to his sophomore form, which made him one of the top draft prospects heading into this year.
Through the first 16 games of the season, Danny Young had thrown fewer innings than any Florida pitcher aside from Bobby Poyner, who didn’t make his first appearance of the season until Sunday.
The Gators and the Seminoles have reversed roles.
The flashes have been there. UF has proven capable of catching fire offensively this season.
Solutions by The State News
