GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Amanda Lorenz stepped into the box in the bottom of the first Friday night and walked on four pitches. Next came Kendyl Lindaman, who laced a double to the wall in left center, scoring Lorenz. Sophia Reynoso's two-out single four batters later handed senior superstar Kelly Barnhill, currently on something of an other-worldly postseason roll, an early two-run advantage in fifth-seeded Florida's opening game of its NCAA Super Regional against 12-seed Tennessee.

Advantage, Gators. Big advantage. 

Said Lorenz: "Good vibes in the dugout." 

In the circle, too, which can only make Barnhill more lethal (if that's even possible, right now).

"It takes so much pressure off when you jump on the other team in the first inning," Barnhill said about two and half hours later, after the Gators finished off a 3-0 victory to start the best-of-three Super series at Pressly Stadium. "It makes pitching easier. It alleviates that pressure. You're in the zone, still concentrating, but you can have so much more fun." 

When she's in the circle, Barnhill rarely wears the look of someone who's having oodles of fun. There's a stoicism to her demeanor that makes her two-seamer and 70-mph rise ball all the more intimidating. And here's a harrowing thought: Barnhill really didn't have her best stuff in throwing her 27th complete game of the season at the Lady Vols — UT got runners on base in six of seven innings — but her final line showed just three hits allowed, seven strikeouts and three walks in her latest masterpiece. 

In seven postseason games (three in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, four in the NCAA Tournament), Barnhill has thrown 42 innings, allowed just one run on 13 hits, fanned 45, walked 14, and pitched to a 0.16 ERA.

And, to repeat, she could have been better Friday.  

"Early on, her rise ball wasn't breaking as much as it was in practice," UF coach Tim Walton said. "I thought she did a really good job of adjusting and making it work later."

Which made the early punch by the UF offense (paired later with some fine defensive plays from the likes of third baseman Hannah Sipos) all the more pivotal.  The two first-inning runs set a tone. Jaimie Hoover's RBI-double in the fourth inning padded the lead. The Lady Vols knocked Barnhill around for five runs over just four innings in a 9-1 UT win that opened the SEC season on March 8, but both parties had a different look about them this time. 

"This is a big moment here, a big stage, and we need some players to step up," Tennessee coach Karen Weekly said. "Big players step up in big games, so we'll be looking for some players to do that [Saturday] in a big game." 

Really big. 

A Game 2 victory sends the Gators (48-15) to their third straight Women's College World Series and 10th over the previous 12 seasons. If the Lady Vols (42-16) can win they'll force a decisive Game 3 on Sunday in what figures to be unforgiving heat, given the 2 p.m. scheduled start.

UF, obviously, just as soon finish this off. 

As blank-faced as Barnhill can be, UF coach Tim Walton proved even more so in the post-game news conference, without the hint of a smile. For good reason. One-game leads in best-of-threes are better than the alternative, but this ain't Walton's first Super Region rodeo.

There's still work to do.  

"The key is being able to limit distractions, limit family noise, limit social media and all the compliments and be able to fit your head through the door when you come back here [Saturday]," Walton said. "Be just as hungry as you were [Game 1]. When you have people telling you how good you are, you forget about having the eye of the tiger." 

Barnhill will have it, but Walton wasn't making announcement on who would pitch Game 2 any more than he was going home to celebrate a huge win. He was going home, instead, to ponder how to score more runs, continue playing good defense and figure out who is going to pitch Saturday. 

Apparently, any assumption — and, yes, it would seem fairly obvious to untrained observer — about the latter would be just that; an assumption. 

"It's a series for a reason," he said.  

Right now, it's tilted toward the Gators, who struck quickly, put the pressure on and rode a hyped home crowd. 

"They were electric, they were loud, they were engaging," Barnhill said. "That just feeds into the game." 

Good vibes all around. 

"This season has not been easy," Lorenz said. "But to push through and be one win away is special."