Florida Gators

Jonathon Crawford threw a no-hitter and faced the minimum 27 batters in top-seeded Florida's 2-0 victory against Bethune-Cookman on Friday night in the Gainesville, Fla. regional opening round. Crawford got a standing ovation, a dog pile from teammates and a shaving cream facial after the game.

HOOVER, Ala. -- Jonathan Crawford wasted no time acclimating himself to life in the postseason. The true sophomore who threw exclusively out of the Florida bullpen last year shrugged as he stepped on the pitching mound Tuesday at Regions Field for the start of the SEC baseball tournament. The lanky right-hander then proceeded to blow away the Auburn Tigers, pitching 5.2 innings of two-hit baseball and leading the Gators to a first-round win, 6-1.

Auburn did not get a single hit out of the infield against Crawford -- one hit coming on a bunt single and the other on a dribbler that the first baseman and the pitcher lost in their crosshairs.

Crawford tiptoed around four walks and an error, throwing some 85 pitches on the afternoon. After the game, UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan called Crawford one of the team’s MVPs for all his work in the starting rotation and out of the bullpen.

“Jonathan did an outstanding job. He gave us a great start,” O’Sullivan said. "It all starts on the mound and Jonathan threw well today.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan was expecting very little from right-hander Jonathan Crawford this season.

The Gators have one of the best pitching staffs in the nation with preseason All-American starters Hudson Randall, Brain Johnson and Karsten Whitson and a stocked bullpen led by Greg Larson, Steven Rodriguez and Austin Maddox. Crawford, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound sophomore who threw 3.2 innings last season, was at best going to be a mid-week starter.

Instead, he ended up being a key piece of the Gators’ weekend rotation.

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