Baseball's Brian Johnson Named SEC Freshman of the Week

Lakeland, Florida Chamber Partner and a Target Marketing Favorite, Jackie Johnson celebrates sons baseball honor in the toughest baseball conference in America. Brian Johnson of UF Named SEC Freshman of the week.

University of Florida left-hander/designated hitter Brian Johnson (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) was chosen as the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week on Monday after playing a key role in the Gators’ series triumph over No. 17 Vanderbilt.

On Saturday, the rookie became the first player from UF since Brad Wilkerson in 1998 to start in an SEC weekend series on the mound and also bat for himself and clinched the series victory by holding the Commodores scoreless for the first 5.2 innings in the 7-3 win. Johnson allowed seven hits and one run with a walk and a strikeout and was 3-for-3 with a run scored at the plate to help his own cause.

The lefty improved to 3-1 overall and is a perfect 2-0 in SEC action with a 1.04 earned run average. He has limited league foes to a .250 batting average during his three conference starts. Johnson led the Gators with a .556 (5-for-9) performance over the weekend, starting all three games at designated hitter and having at least one hit in all three outings. He also drew three walks and registered a .667 on-base percentage.

In seven appearances, including six starts, Johnson is 3-1 with a 3.09 ERA and has a 4:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (20:5) in 32.0 innings. He boasts a .455 (5-for-11) average in four games as the Gators’ DH.

Johnson became the third member of head coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s top-ranked recruiting class to be named the SEC’s Freshman of the Week this season, joining right-hander Hudson Randall (Atlanta, Ga.) (March 1) and shortstop Nolan Fontana (Winter Garden, Fla.) (March 8).

Eighth-ranked UF (20-7/6-3 SEC) returns to action on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. by hosting Jacksonville (16-13/8-4 Atlantic Sun). In a matchup of right-handers, sophomore Greg Larson (Longwood, Fla.) (0-0, 12.54) will draw the start against Dolphin senior Glenn Witkowkski (2-3, 7.59).

-UF-

Source: http://www.gatorzone.com/story.php?id=17898