Florida Gators
Auburn Invitational(Swim only)
Former Gator Brennan, who started last UF no-hitter prior to Crawford, back at McKethan on Saturday
Saturday, June 9, 2012 | Baseball, Women's Swimming & Diving, Scott Carter
Before Game 1 of the NCAA Gainesville Super Regional starts on Saturday afternoon, a special guest of the Gators will take a look around McKethan Stadium and share stories with his wife and four kids.
Doug Brennan said he hasn't been back "probably in 10 years,'' but on Saturday the former Florida lefty and his family will attend the Gators-N.C. State game.
The Brennan family drove down from their North Carolina home on Friday.
"We're going to take a look and let them see where I used to do the Gator thing,'' Brennan said.
A week ago Brennan was at home when his oldest son informed him that he was mentioned in an article online about the Gators baseball team.
Prior to Gators sophomore right-hander Jonathon Crawford's no-hitter against Bethune Cookman, Brennan started the last no-hitter thrown by the Gators.
On March 19, 1993, Brennan tossed seven shutout innings and combined with reliever Chris Nelson to no-hit Pace University in a 16-0 rout at McKethan.
Crawford's performance and second baseman Casey Turgeon's catch on the final play of the game stirred memories for Brennan, who pitched in 51 games for the Gators from 1990-93.
(Photo: Former Gators pitcher Doug Brennan)
In his combined no-hitter with Nelson, former Gators shortstop Joey Arnold, son of then-Florida head coach Joe Arnold, made a diving play at shortstop early in the game to keep the no-hitter alive.
"It was a ground ball hit right up the middle,'' Brennan said. "He was playing shortstop and he slid to a knee and fielded it behind second base and got up and made a great throw to first base. That kind of kept the momentum going."
Brennan's performance came after shoulder surgery nearly derailed his career following his sophomore season in 1991. A week after the Gators lost to LSU in the College World Series, Brennan underwent surgery to repair his pitching shoulder.
He made it back to the mound to finish is career as a savvy lefty in baseball parlance. He also had a nifty pickoff move to first that helped him pick off 15 batters as a senior, still second on the school's all-time single-season list.
"I was a lefty -- not a [Steven] Rodriguez lefty who throws really hard,'' he quipped. "More like one throwing in the 80s at that point."
His playing career ended after leaving UF and he went into coaching, spending several years in St. Augustine as baseball coach at Nease and Menendez high schools.
The family relocated to North Carolina a few years ago and Brennan is now athletic director at a middle school.
His sons are Gator fans so he still follows the Gators closely. Crawford's no-hitter provided an opportunity to remind them that he was a pretty good pitcher in his day too.
"That was a pretty neat time,'' Brennan recalled of his no-hitter. "[Turgeon's catch] stuck out because in every no-hitter there is one of those questionable plays where someone has to come up and make an exceptional effort. That was something that happened during mine as well.
"It's neat to be a part of that from the past."
