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.
On a starting staff struggling to pitch deep into games, Crawford (0-2, 4.22) has pitched at least six innings in his last two starts.
But he’ll have to wait an extra day to take the next step when Florida (8-10) hosts No. 10 Kentucky (14-2) in its SEC opener Friday night at 7:30.
Freshman right-hander Jay Carmichael (2-1, 2.00) will open the series in his first career start. Crawford will go on Saturday and right-hander Eric Hanhold (0-1, 6.39) will throw the first pitch in Sunday’s game.
Carmichael tossed 5.2 innings of relief against Indiana on Saturday.
“[Carmichael is] going out there and being really consistent,” said second baseman Casey Turgeon. “That’s what you need to be a good pitcher. He’s giving good stuff every time.”
In a season where Florida pitchers have struggled, Carmichael has been the exception. If he can lead UF to its first Friday night win in 2013, Florida will have an improving Crawford ready to clinch the series with a win on Saturday. Maybe he’ll get rare run support. Florida averages 4.7 runs per contest. That number drops to two when Crawford starts.
“He’s not far off. We haven’t given him a whole lot of run support on Friday nights,” O’Sullivan said.
“Every pitch has been an intense one. He hasn’t had a whole lot of room to breathe. I would think he is going to be better as the season goes on.”
Southpaws take hill: Kentucky counters Florida’s right-handed trio with three left-handed starters. A.J. Reed (2-1, 3.22) faces Carmichael in the opener. Senior Jerad Grundy (3-1, 1.35) and junior Corey Littrell (2-0, 3.42) round out the rotation. O’Sullivan compared Reed to a former Florida southpaw.
“You don’t see that very often, but they recruited well,” O’Sullivan said of the three left-handers. “Their Friday guy reminds us a lot of Brian Johnson. He hits in the middle of the order.”
Reed leads the Wildcats with five home runs, and his .361 average would rank first on the Gators’ roster. O’Sullivan called UK a complete team with a Sunday starter as good as anybody in a series finale.
No. 5 Florida took two of three against No. 3 Kentucky last season in Lexington, Ky. Crawford outlined a simple plan for the Gators to follow.
“We are going to have to play together as a team,” Crawford said. “Pitch well and hit well.”
Shortstop recovering: Shortstop Richie Martin suffered a fractured right index finger against Miami on March 3. Florida set a timetable of 3-4 weeks for his return to the lineup.
The earliest Martin could return would be against Vanderbilt on March 22.
“I expect a couple weeks and he will be back,” O’Sullivan said.
“The staff is doing a great job with him. I know he’s anxious to get back. So we’ll just take it one day at a time, but he is making good progress.”
Senior Cody Dent has played shortstop in five of the six games since Martin was sidelined. O’Sullivan has played Turgeon and Josh Tobias up the middle several times late in games.
“We were looking for some guys to step up,” Turgeon said. “They went out there and gave it their best. That’s all you can ask for.”
Contact Adam Pincus at apincus@alligator.org.
Freshman Jay Carmichael warms up between innings during UF’s 8-2 loss to Florida Gulf Coast on Feb. 22. Carmichael walked four and hit two batters in Florida's 4-3 loss to Ole Miss on Friday.
