Gator Country

Florida junior Jonathan Crawford will be joined by Karsten Whitson to give the Gators' an experience 1-2 punch in the starting rotation this season. / Gator Country photo by Mike Capshaw

It’s still December but the preseason accolades are beginning to heat up for the Florida Gators baseball team.

Louisville Slugger named right-handed pitcher Jonathan Crawford to its Preseason All-American third team, which was announced by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. Crawford, a junior from Okeechobee, Fla., gained national attention when he completed a no-hitter during the Gators opener in the NCAA Gainesville Regional.

It was the seventh complete game no-hitter in postseason play and first since former UF pitcher John Burke no-hit Furman in 1991.

Crawford finished the season with a 6-2 record and a 3.13 ERA with 73 strikeouts. Over the summer, Crawford fired his upper-90s fastball for the 2012 USA National Team, posting a 3-0 record and 2.10 ERA.

Collegiate Baseball also has the young Gators at No. 24 in its preseason rankings. Arkansas, which returns most of its pitching staff and several key cogs, is No. 1 while Vanderbilt comes in at No. 3 and LSU is No. 4.

Other SEC teams in the top 30 are No.7 South Carolina, No. 8 Kentucky, No. 13 Mississippi State, No. 25 Ole Miss and No. 29 Georgia. The nine teams among the top 30 are the most of any conference.

According to its website, the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll is the oldest college baseball poll, beginning during the 1958 baseball season.

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper’s
NCAA Div. I Pre-Season Poll 
(As of Dec. 20, 2012)
http://www.baseballnews.com
Rank School (’12 Final Record) Points
1. Arkansas (46-22) 496
2. North Carolina (46-16) 495
3. Vanderbilt (35-28) 494
4. Louisiana St. (47-18) 487
5. UCLA (48-16) 484
6. Oregon (46-19) 482
7. South Carolina (49-20) 481
8. Kentucky (45-18) 478
9. Stanford (41-18) 476
10. Oregon St. (40-20) 473
11. N.C. State (43-20) 470
12. San Diego (40-17) 467
13. Mississippi St. (40-24) 464
14. Oklahoma (42-25) 462
15. Texas Christian (40-22) 460
16. Arizona St. (36-20) 458
17. Georgia Tech. (38-26) 456
18. Arizona (48-17) 454
19. Florida St. (50-17) 452
20. Rice (41-19) 450
21. Texas (30-22) 448
22. Louisville (41-22) 446
23. Cal. St. Fullerton (36-21) 445
24. Florida (47-20) 443
25. Mississippi (37-26) 437
26. Texas A&M (43-18) 434
27. Clemson (35-28) 429
28. Miami, Fla. (36-23) 427
29. Georgia (31-26) 423
30. U.C. Irvine (31-25) 420
31. Missouri St. (40-22) 418
32. Wichita St. (35-25) 415
33. New Mexico (37-24) 413
34. Kent St. (47-20) 411
35. Virginia (39-19-1) 408
36. Southern Mississippi (32-24) 405
37. East Carolina (36-24-1) 403
38. Coastal Carolina (42-19) 400
39. Dallas Baptist (41-19) 397
40. Pepperdine (36-23) 395
Other Teams Receiving Votes: Central Florida, Baylor, Oklahoma St., Long Beach St., Cal Poly, U.C. Santa Barbara, Tulane, St. John’s, South Florida, Notre Dame, Seton Hall, Florida Atlantic, College of Charleston, Fresno St., Indiana St., Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri, Southern Illinois, Nevada, San Diego St., Nevada-Las Vegas, South Alabama, Florida International, Gonzaga, Texas St., New Mexico St., Western Carolina, Appalachian St., Georgia Southern, Sam Houston St., Southeastern Louisiana, Southern California, Washington, California, Washington St., Oral Roberts, Austin Peay St., Stony Brook, S.C. Upstate, Kennesaw St., Mercer, Florida Gulf Coast, St. Louis, Rhode Island, Virginia Commonwealth, Liberty, Campbell, High Point, Indiana, Nebraska, Michigan St., Ohio St., Illinois, Minnesota, Purdue, N.C. Wilmington, Hofstra, James Madison, Valparaiso, Manhattan, Canisius, Miami (Ohio), Toledo, Eastern Michigan, Bethune-Cookman, Southern, Bryant, Monmouth, Belmont.
Source: Collegiate Baseball Newspaper

About the author

MikeCapshaw

Mike’s 15 years in the business has included more than six years of covering SEC sports and recruiting at a daily newspaper in Arkansas. He has also helped launch a newspaper, magazines, websites and even a sports talk radio show. Mike has won Florida Press Association awards for Best Sports Game Story and Best Sports Feature Story in the past two years as well as a company-wide award at his former newspaper group that includes some 60 publications, for Excellence in Sports Reporting.

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