Junior
Hudson Randall (Atlanta, Ga.) threw seven shutout innings and junior Mike
Zunino (Cape Coral, Fla.) drove in three runs and had a two-run homer as No.
1 Florida (46-18) downed No. 11 NC State (43-19), 7-1, in the opening game of
the best-of-three NCAA Gainesville Super Regional on Saturday afternoon at
McKethan Stadium.
The
contest was delayed twice for a total of two hours and 51 minutes before it was
completed. Game two will be on Sunday at 1 p.m. and be shown nationally on ESPNU,
with the Gators needing one more victory to punch the program’s third-consecutive
ticket to the NCAA College World Series.
“I
thought we played very well,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “The
four-run third inning was obviously big for us; it gave us a really good lead.
Hudson was outstanding on the mound, again. It seems like every time he goes to
the mound, he gives us a quality start. He dialed in today and he was very
good. He scattered six hits, but didn’t walk anybody. He did a great job of
getting lead-off hitters out to start innings.”
“Mike
[Zunino] had a great day at the plate. He battled with two strikes and got the
RBI with runners on second and third with one out, and obviously the two-run
homer was great as well. I look forward to tomorrow. We know that tomorrow is a
totally different game than it was today. We can’t carry any runs into
tomorrow. We know NC State is throwing arguably, their ace tomorrow, and we
have to come out and be ready to play. We’re one win away, and we’ll see what
happens.”
Randall
(9-2) scattered six singles over seven strong innings, with four strikeouts and
zero walks. The righty has now permitted two runs or less in 11 of his 15
starts this year, including his last five outings, and also picked up his
school-record fifth win in NCAA Tourney action. Following the extended weather delay
that began at 4:20 p.m., Zunino cranked a two-run homer over the
left-field bleachers in the bottom of the seventh and the teams later endured
another 48-minute break before wrapping up the game. The Gators had a four-run
third inning to seize control of the contest, while senior Preston Tucker
(Tampa, Fla.) was 2-for-3 with a three runs and senior Daniel Pigott (Ormond
Beach, Fla.) tallied two RBI.
Junior
first baseman Vickash Ramjit (Miami, Fla.) made a spectacular play to
rob NCSU freshman Brett Austin of a leadoff single to begin the third inning.
Ramjit made a diving stop, nearly rolled into the first-base umpire and threw
from his back to Randall covering the bag for the out. The right-hander caught
junior Matt Bergquist looking on strikes and had freshman Trea Turner ground
out to complete the stanza.
In
the home part of the frame, the Gators plated four runs on four singles and a
Wolfpack throwing error to take a 4-0 lead. Freshman Josh Tobias
(Greensboro, N.C.) singled up the middle with one down off junior Ethan Ogburn
(5-4) and junior Nolan Fontana (Winter Garden, Fla.) sliced a base-hit
through the right side with Tobias on the move for runners on the corners. Tucker
then made it three-straight singles for the Orange and Blue with a base-knock into
right center that brought across Tobias. A passed ball by Austin enabled
Fontana and Tucker to advance and a throwing error by junior shortstop Chris
Diaz on a grounder by Zunino enabled the Gators to build a 3-0 advantage. With
Zunino in scoring position and two down, Pigott stroked an RBI single into
center field to score his teammate with the fourth run.
NC
State put two runners aboard in the fourth, as junior Danny Canela (2-for-3)
had a one-out single into center field and junior Tarran Senay delivered a
two-out single. However, Tucker tracked down a fly ball by senior Andrew
Ciencin that was in the gap between right and center to retire the side.
Freshman
Jake Fincher (2-for-4) started the fifth with a single up the middle and
Randall responded by having Austin fly out to left field. The righty struck out
Bergquist, with Fincher stealing second base on the pitch, and then had Turner
ground out to keep the Wolfpack scoreless.
The
Gators added another run in the fifth on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Pigott
for a 5-0 margin. Tucker led off with his second hit, a single into right
field, and collected his fifth theft of the campaign. Zunino blooped a single
into center field just beyond the reach of Fincher, leaving the Gators with
runners on first and third with none out. Junior Brian Johnson (Cocoa
Beach, Fla.) drew a walk to load the bases and Pigott lofted a fly ball to the
warning track in right field to score Zunino for a five-run lead. Sophomore
D.J. Thomas replaced Ogburn (4.1 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 3 ER) and induced an
inning-ending 4-6-3 double play from freshman Casey Turgeon (Palm
Harbor, Fla.).
Randall
retired eight-consecutive NC State hitters before yielding back-to-back two-out
singles in the seventh to Fincher and Austin. Randall had tomorrow’s starting
pitcher, freshman pinch hitter Carlos Rodon, ground out to close the frame and
finish his outing.
Tucker
earned a free pass to start UF’s seventh and freshman Dillon Frye took over for
Thomas (1.2 IP, 1 H). With Zunino at the plate, the game went into a rain delay
at 4:20 p.m. Play resumed at 6:23 p.m. and Zunino jacked a 3-2 pitch to deep
left field for his SEC-leading 19th homer to match his output from last year
and tie the school’s single-season record again for homers along with David
Ross (1998) and Tony Socarras (2000). Zunino has now homered in his
last three games (two against Georgia Tech and today).
Senior
Greg Larson (Longwood, Fla.) replaced Randall out of the rain delay and registered
the first two outs before walking Canela in a driving rainstorm, prompting another
delay at 6:38 p.m. Action resumed at 7:26 p.m. and redshirt senior Ryan Mathews
singled to left field and went to second on a fielding error by freshman left
fielder Justin Shafer (Lake Wales, Fla.)., with Canela moving to third.
Freshman Bobby Poyner (Wellington, Fla.) came in for Larson (0.2 IP, 1
H) and caught Senay looking on strikes to strand the runners.
