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.
“He just competes — bottom line. He goes up there and gives it all he has every single pitch,” catcher Taylor Gushue said. “You really can’t ask for more than what he has given us so far. It’s been fantastic, actually.”
Carmichael supplanted Crawford when he started against Kentucky on March 15. He hasn’t looked back. The freshman held Kentucky and Vanderbilt to three hits apiece in 10.2 innings as Florida (11-15, 2-4 SEC) won its first two series openers this season with Carmichael on the hill.
“He’s throwing really good the last time out. Obviously each week becomes a new challenge for him,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “He learns something new every time out. Hopefully he will have another good performance here [Friday] night.”
Carmichael outdueled Wildcats left-hander A.J. Reed and Commodores right-hander Kevin Ziomek. Rebels ace Bobby Wahl (6-0, 1.67) starts tonight. Wahl’s six victories are tied for the SEC lead. He tossed eight shutout innings against Florida last season in Oxford, Miss.
Carmichael displayed poise in Nashville, Tenn., after falling on the mound while pitching to the leadoff batter in the fifth inning. He struck out the next two hitters to put the finishing touches on a scoreless inning.
O’Sullivan didn’t know what to expect from the freshman right-hander when he arrived at Florida, but Carmichael has shown he can handle the increased role. O’Sullivan had to limit Carmichael from spending too much time watching film before his first Friday start.
O’Sullivan wanted Carmichael to continue what he had been doing in the bullpen and not think too much on the mound. Florida will need its freshman to continue what he’s done the last two weekends to pull off another series-opening win.
“He just goes out there and competes his butt off,” Crawford said. “He’s not scared.”
Gators fight injuries: Left-hander Corey Stump (0-2, 2.45) underwent surgery on his throwing shoulder on Wednesday and will miss the remainder of the season. O’Sullivan noticed something wrong with the sophomore during his last outing when he faced five batters in an 11-5 loss to Kentucky on March 16.
While Stump will not return, shortstop Richie Martin will come back soon. O’Sullivan just doesn’t know when. Martin suffered a fractured right index finger in Florida’s 6-3 win against Miami on March 3. His expected recovery time of four weeks would have had him back in time to face the Rebels this weekend. But the freshman who has reached base in all 12 games he has played this season is still sidelined.
“I don’t know. I thought he was going to be ready to go this weekend, but it’s not quite healed yet,” O’Sullivan said. “We’ll re-evaluate it [Friday] morning and kind of see where we are.”
Starting rotation: Crawford (0-4, 5.67) throws in Game 2 for Florida on Saturday. Ole Miss trots out right-hander Mike Mayers (2-2, 2.83) against Crawford and Chris Ellis (1-1, 9.00) in the series finale. Both games are set for 1 p.m. Florida hasn’t announced a starter for Sunday.
Contact Adam Pincus at apincus@alligator.org.
Freshman starting pitcher Jay Carmichael warms up between innings during Florida’s 4-1 win against Kentucky on March 15 at McKethan Stadium. Carmichael only pitched 1.2 innings in April while dealing with arm soreness.
