CORAL GABLES - Florida made numerous miscues, and Miami made the Gators pay.
Florida committed three errors in the seventh, allowing Miami to score three runs on one hit and win the opening game of the Super Region 8-7 Saturday.
Florida rallied in the eighth, but Danny Gil retired all four batters he faced to preserve the lead.
Miami (48-11) is 7-0 in Super Regions at home and can eliminate UF by winning Game 2 today.
"We can't relax," Miami coach Jim Morris said. "(Today is) a really important game for us."
The opener was back and forth until the seventh. After Jon Jay's leadoff single, starter Justin Hoyman (11-2) mishandled two straight sacrifice bunt attempts that allowed a run and gave the Hurricanes a 6-4 lead.
Ryan Braun's sacrifice fly made it 7-4. Third baseman Jonathan Tucker mishandled a grounder, and Erick San Pedro followed by driving in the inning's final run on a fielder's choice.
"I feel really comfortable fielding my position," Hoyman said. "I was really disappointed."
Florida had five errors that led to six unearned runs.
Reliever Ricky Orta pitched two-thirds of an inning for the win.
UF rallied in the eighth, led by Justin Tordi's two-run homer and a run-scoring double by Jesuit's C.J. Smith. But with the tying run on second, Gil struck out Ben Harrison to end the threat.
Gil struck out the first three batters he faced, pitched a perfect ninth and picked up his fifth save. He retired Brian Leclerc on a groundout to end the game.
J.D. Cockroft left after 51/3 innings, the shortest outing for the Miami ace since February.
Baserunning errors also plagued the Gators (43-21). In the second, UF had two runners in scoring position and no outs when Jeff Corsaletti was picked off third. UF failed to score. In the sixth, the Gators had two on but Brian Jeroloman was caught off second base after a flyout to center.
"We made some dumb mistakes, but we know we can play with these guys," Harrison said.
