The Gators were hoping to get the good Jonathon Crawford on Friday night.
For an inning, that wasn’t the case. Then, the junior starter found his groove.
Despite putting Florida (21-18, 9-7 Southeastern Conference) in a 4-1 hole after the first inning, Crawford rebounded to keep the game within reach for the offense to come back in an 8-6 win over Missouri (12-21, 4-12 SEC).
“Team-wise, pitching-wise, we hung in there,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “We could’ve easily — on someone else’s field— folded the tent and started looking toward tomorrow.”
Crawford— Florida’s Friday starter for all but three weekend series this season— had only thrown three quality starts all season before Friday night but had shown flashes of dominance.
After being spotted a 1-0 lead thanks to a Justin Shafer RBI single in the top of the first, Crawford gave up four runs on four hits and one walk in the bottom of the inning. He responded by finishing hit outing with 4.2 scoreless innings.
“He wasn’t pleased with how he threw in the first inning, but he put together four plus innings after that of really good pitching in some tough conditions,” O’Sullivan said.
Following the first, Crawford allowed just one hit until the sixth inning and finished with four strikeouts.
“He gave us a chance to get back in the game,” O’Sullivan said.
Florida started to chip away at the lead in the fourth after Vickash Ramjit led off with a single. Josh Tobias drove him in with a deep single off the right-field wall.
Tigers starter Rob Zastryzny, who came into the game with a 3.67 ERA, allowed 12 hits and six runs in 5.2 innings. The Gators finished the game with a season-high 18 hits.
“Our at-bats all night were good,” O’Sullivan said. “…Against a really quality pitcher. He’s been their Friday starter all year.”
UF second baseman Casey Turgeon cut it to 4-3 with one out in the fifth with a solo home run to right field — his fourth of the season. Turgeon’s home run was UF’s first since March 31 when Ramjit hit a two–run shot against Ole Miss in a 4-0 win.
Catcher Taylor Gushue followed Turgeon with a triple to right center. After Shafer struck out, Ramjit drove in Gushue with a double and then scored on a Tobias single to give Florida a 5-4 lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
The Gators finished the game with six two-out RBI base hits— a feat that impressed their coach.
“For us to battle in there and grind out some at-bats and get as many hits as we did—as many hits as we did and as many two-strike hits and two-out runs, it was a really gutsy performance,” O’Sullivan said.
Florida looks to extend its season-high win streak to eight games tomorrow with freshman starter Danny Young on the mound. In his last two starts, Young hasn’t made it out of the fifth inning, but O’Sullivan said he hasn’t lost any confidence in the lefty.
“We’re going to have to have a good start by Danny,” O’Sullivan said. “If he continues to pitch how he has, I feel like he gives us a good chance to win.”
Contact Josh Jurnovoy at jjurnovoy@alligator.org.
Junior starting pitcher Jonathon Crawford warms up on the mound during Florida’s 3-2 victory against South Carolina on April 11 at McKethan Stadium. Crawford gave up four runs in four innings against Auburn on Friday.
