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Thursday, March 28, 2024
<p>Jonathon Crawford warms up before throwing a no-hitter Friday night against Bethune-Cookman. He struck out five batters and walked one.</p>

Jonathon Crawford warms up before throwing a no-hitter Friday night against Bethune-Cookman. He struck out five batters and walked one.

The Gators proved they were worthy of the nation’s top overall seed in the first weekend of postseason play — or at least the No. 1 ranking in the NCAA Gainesville Regional.

Florida dominated Bethune-Cookman and Georgia Tech with a balanced attack bolstered by effective starting pitching en route to a fourth consecutive Super Regional berth.

After failing to capture a third straight Southeastern Conference title during the regular season, the Gators’ play in the first round of the postseason was a far cry from their mid-season slump.

“I think this team, to be honest with you, is probably tired of hearing about how people have not thought they’ve played up to their potential,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “We’re the No. 1 national seed, and we’re using that as motivation moving forward.”

A great deal of Florida’s success during the week was the result of stellar starting pitching. Dating back to the Auburn series at the end of the regular season, Gators starters have lasted five innings or more in every start but one. However, the group raised the bar during the Regional.

Jonathon Crawford kicked off the weekend with a no-hitter against Bethune-Cookman on Friday night. Crawford fanned five batters and walked one facing the minimum of 27 batters.

The sophomore right-hander also proved his durability by throwing a career-high 98 pitches and hitting 98 mph on the radar gun in the ninth inning.

“Crawford did an unbelievable job pitching,” Wildcats coach Jason Beverlin said Friday. “Probably an understatement.”

Hudson Randall followed Crawford’s outing with a solid start. He scattered eight hits in 5.2 innings, but surrendered only one run to an offense that had averaged 8.6 runs in its last five games.

Arguably Randall’s most important out Saturday was Yellow Jackets first baseman Jake Davies in the bottom of the third. After home plate umpire Mike Morris ruled that Mike Zunino had caught a foul tip off Davies’ bat for a third strike, the Gators left the field.

However, the umpiring crew overruled Morris and decided the ball had hit the dirt, putting Davies back in the batter’s box with runners on first and second in a 1-1 game.

Three pitches later, Randall got the strikeout on a changeup.

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“Runners on first and second in a big situation early on in the game, I didn’t want to give up any more runs,” Randall said. “[Going back on the field] worked out well for us because I was able to go out there and get the strikeout, and … all the momentum was on our side.”

Brian Johnson started Sunday and gave up one run on three hits in five innings. Other than a rocky third inning, Johnson dominated Georgia Tech and probably would have pitched deeper into the game had it not been a blowout.

Florida gave Johnson the most run support during the weekend with 15 runs in the first five innings. The Gators went to the bullpen for the final four frames in a 15-3 win.

“Brian gave us a great start,” O’Sullivan said. “We got an early 7-0 lead, and Brian continued to throw strikes.”

Heading into the Super Regional, Florida has a stout starting rotation to pit against NC State. Karsten Whitson, who struck out two batters in a scoreless frame Sunday, remains in the mix with Crawford, Randall and Johnson.

“No, I have no idea at this point (who the three starters will be),” O’Sullivan said. “There’s four guys that we can use, and we’ll get to that later on in the week. You can probably figure out the four guys.”

Contact Joe Morgan at joemorgan@alligator.org.

Jonathon Crawford warms up before throwing a no-hitter Friday night against Bethune-Cookman. He struck out five batters and walked one.

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