One down, one to go: Florida trips up Miami 7-2

A dominating performance from sophomore starting pitcher Alex Panteliodis coupled with an onslaught of runs in the third and fourth innings propelled No. 4 Florida Gators baseball (46-15) to a 7-2 victory over the No. 11 Miami Hurricanes (43-19) in the opening game of the 2010 NCAA Gainesville Super Regional on Friday night at McKethan Stadium.

A complete game effort from Panteliodis (11-2), including a career-high 12 strikeouts and a streak where he retired the final 14 batters he faced, allowed Florida’s bullpen to rest and remain available for game two of the best-of-three series on Saturday at 7 p.m.

In addition to forcing 12 batters to whiff, Panteliodis scattered three hits over nine innings and only allowed one walk during the affair.

Stepping up at the plate for the Gators were freshmen third baseman Austin Maddox (1-5, run) and catcher Mike Zunino (1-4), who tied for the team lead with two RBI apiece. Outfielders sophomore Tyler Thompson (1-3, solo home run) and senior Justin Pigott (2-4) each scored two runs, and sophomore Preston Tucker (0-2) walked thrice.

Miami committed two errors Friday night, both of which led to unearned runs not attributed to Hurricanes starter David Gutierrez (5-3), who was pulled from the game after allowing seven hits and one earned run in four innings. Catcher Yasmani Grandal scored the team’s only runs on a two-RBI homer in the fourth inning.

UF out-hit UM 9-3 and left more runners on base, too (9-1).

Game two of the Gainesville Super Regional will feature freshman Hudson Randall (8-3, 2.97 ERA) taking the mound for the Gators against junior Chris Hernandez (10-3, 2.77 ERA) for the Canes. If Florida wins, they will move on to the 2010 NCAA College World Series; should they lose, game three will be played Sunday at 7 p.m.

Photo Credit: University of Florida