Faedo shines as Florida Gators win CWS opener

Florida starting pitcher Alex Faedo showed why he was a first round MLB Draft pick with his performance on Sunday night.

The junior pitched seven shutout innings and limited the Horned Frogs to just two hits as the Gators won their College World Series opener 3-0 over TCU.

Florida (48-18) advances in the winner's bracket and will face Louisville on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. on ESPN. TCU (47-17) will face Texas A&M in an elimination game on Tuesday afternoon.

Sunday's win was UF's second 3-0 shutout in a row, also beating Wake Forest in last Monday's Super Regional finale by the same scoreline.

Faedo was masterful, striking out 11 batters -- the most ever by a Florida pitcher in a College World Series game. He now has 146 strikeouts on the season, tied for the most in the nation with Louisville's Brendan McKay, who pitched in the Cardinals' win earlier on Sunday.

Florida opened the scoring in the first inning. Ryan Larson drew a leadoff walk then took second on a failed pickoff attempt. Dalton Guthrie advanced him to third with a grounder to the right side.

JJ Schwarz gave UF a 1-0 lead with a RBI groundout that scored Larson from third.

TCU had its first scoring opportunity of the game in the third inning, loading the bases on a pair of walks and an error. Alex Faedo escaped the jam with a pair of strikeouts to end the inning.

After a couple of scoreless innings, Florida threatened again in the fourth. Mike Rivera drew a one-out walk and went to third on Austin Langworthy's single into right field.

Christian Hicks gave the Gators a two-run lead with a RBI single into left field.

Florida's hitters knocked TCU starter Jared Janczak from the game in the fifth inning as three-straight singles added another UF run. Nelson Maldonado's RBI single brought home Guthrie to make it 3-0.

After Faedo exited, Michael Byrne entered in the eighth and pitched two scoreless innings for his 17th save of the season.