Crawford, who only pitched 3? innings last season, allowed only one base runner the entire night. Jake Welch reached base for the Wildcats but was thrown out by catcher Mike Zunioin trying to steal in the third inning.
Crawford retired Nick Johnson on a grounder to first baseman Vickash Ramjit for the first out in the ninth inning. Bethune pinch-hitter Jordan Taylor grounded to shortstop Nolan Fontana on Crawford's 92nd pitch for the second out. Carlos Delgado, the Wildcats' catcher, lined out to Turgeon on a full count to end the game.
"I guess the stars were aligned for me," Crawford said.
He'd never thrown a no-hitter before, not even in Little League.
"I was really pumped up, the thought I could possibly get a no-hitter I was really jacked up," Crawford said of the ninth inning.
He threw 20 first pitch strikes to the 27 batters he faced. There were only a few hard-hit balls. Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan said he told Zunino after the seventh inning that the catcher and pitcher would call the pitches the rest of the way. O'Sullivan estimates he only called 10 pitches all night.
"Usually when you throw strikes the ball finds your infielders," O'Sullivan said.
It was the fifth no-hitter in school history and the first since May 23, 1991, when John Burke no-hit Furman. The final out was on Crawford's 99th pitch of the night.
"Unbelievable, it really was, it was an unbelievable game. ? Crawford did an unbelievable job pitching. That's probably an understatement," said Bethune-Cookman coach Jason Beverlin, who was the Tennessee pitching coach last season before taking over the Wildcats' job.
Florida (43-18) will face Georgia Tech (37-24) in the winner's bracket of the Gainesville Regional at 7 p.m. today. The College of Charleston (37-21), which lost the regional opener to the Yellow Jackets, 8-4, will meet Bethune (34-26) in today's 1 p.m. elimination game.
Tech scored three times in the first and four in the second to win its game.
"I think they are the No. 1 seed for a reason," Yellow Jackets coach Danny Hall said of the Gators. "They played for a national championship last year. They might not have the entire team back but almost the entire team back. They are a well-coached, talented team."
The Gators got all the runs they would need when Turgeon singled home Daniel Pigott, who singled to open the bottom of the third and moved to second and third on a stolen base and wild pitch.
Turgeon then hit his first home run since March 18 vs. Vanderbilt, and his fourth of the season, to break the game open and make it 4-0 in the bottom of the fifth.
"I guessed fast ball and I hit it well," Turgeon said.
It was reliever Bryan Rivera's first batter after coming into the game to replace Wildcats starter Rayan Gonzalez. Gonzalez pitched admirably but ran into trouble and departed after throwing 108 pitches. He gave up a single to Brian Johnson with two outs and a walk to Pigott before departing.
From there it was all Crawford (6-2), whose previous long was six innings vs. LSU on April 6.
"Last year, how smart I am, we left him off the roster in Omaha," O'Sullvan said of Crawford.
If Florida makes it back to the College World Series, there's a pretty good chance he'll be in uniform.
"This is a night he'll never forget and I know I'll never forget," O'Sullivan said.
Source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomCollegeSports-TopStories/~3/TC9EmaxyVSo/1
No comments:
Post a Comment