By Antonya English, Times Staff Writer
Friday, June 10, 2011
GAINESVILLE — In his most recent outing against Mississippi State in April, Florida sophomore pitcher Hudson Randall survived just 2 1/3 innings, giving up nine hits and six runs. So needless to say, he was eager to get another shot at the Bulldogs.
Friday afternoon, Hudson pitched a postseason career-high eight innings, giving up just one earned run on a season-high 115 pitches to help Florida to an 11-1 victory over MSU in the first game of the NCAA Gainesville Super Regional.
"I was a little more anxious coming out," Randall said. "It pumped me up a little bit more because they tattooed me over in Starkville. And I missed pitching against them in the SEC Tournament, so I was really excited to come back out and give it another go."
Florida has outscored its opponents 34-1 in the first three innings of NCAA Tournament play. The Gators jumped out to a 4-0 first inning lead against freshman pitcher Evan Mitchell, who walked three of the first nine batters.
Florida (49-16) and MSU (37-24) will play the second game of the best-of-three series today at noon. The Gators fully expect it to be much tougher.
"This job is not over, and we've talked about that already," Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "We don't carry over any wins from (Friday) to (Saturday). We'll be ready to play. We will not overlook them."
Antonya English can be reached at english@sptimes.com.