HOOVER, Ala. |?Brian Johnson pitched a five-hitter, and Mike Zunino hit a two-run homer to lead Florida to a 7-2 win over South Carolina on Friday night, eliminating the two-time defending national champions from the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
The Gators (42-17) face Vanderbilt today for a shot at the SEC championship. The Gamecocks (40-17) went 1-2 at Regions Park.
Johnson (7-4) pitched his first career complete game and had retired nine in a row before giving up back-to-back hits and a run in the ninth.
"He didn't misfire all night," Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "He executed his pitches all night long, and that's really what you have to do against a team like South Carolina."
Johnson struck out five, didn't walk anybody and coasted through on 89 pitches. And he finished, despite the ninth-inning run.
"I felt good," said Johnson, who also had an RBI on a bases-loaded walk in the fifth. "I came in in the eighth and told Sully I wanted to finish it."
His last trip to Hoover didn't end as well. He sustained a concussion after getting struck in the back of the head by a ball in last season's tournament.
The Gamecocks only managed one other threat off Johnson before the final inning. They had back-to-back singles to open the sixth, but Johnson got Joey Pankake to ground into a run-scoring double play.
Casey Turgeon added a two-run single in the three-run fifth to make it 7-0.
Zunino had an RBI groundout in the first and then delivered his league-leading 16th home run with a shot over the left-field fence in the third for a 4-0 lead.
"We wanted to come out early and often, and that's what we talked about right before the game," said Nolan Fontana, who went 2 for 3 with a pair of walks and three runs scored for the Gators.
Turgeon, Preston Tucker and Josh Tobias also had two hits for the Gators.
Chase Vergason went 2 for 3 for South Carolina.
The Gamecocks had beaten Florida twice in the College World Series to claim the national title last season, but they were outhit 11-5.
Starter Colby Holmes (6-1) couldn't make it out of the third in his first loss of the season.
"We've had a lot of games this year where our pitching has carried us," South Carolina coach Ray Tanner said. "We weren't very good tonight, and you can't do that against a team like Florida when Brian Johnson's on the mound.?He's very good. He's going to pitch on the next level and probably for a long, long time."
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