Times wires
Friday, May 27, 2011
GAINESVILLE — Brittany Schutte hit two two-run homers and Florida beat Oregon 9-1 in the first game of a softball Super Region on Friday.
The Gators (51-10) are one win away from their fourth straight appearance in the College World Series. Game 2 is at noon today, with a third game, if necessary, at 2:30.
There were two rain delays in the run-rule five-inning game.
Florida tied the school and SEC record with 109 single-season home runs. Michelle Moultrie tied a UF record with her 27th steal of the season.
Baseball: Storms delay FSU game
DURHAM, N.C. — Thunderstorms at the ACC tournament delayed FSU's game against Georgia Tech until 9 this morning and caused delays to other games.
The Virginia-Miami game was suspended with Miami leading 2-0 in the bottom of the second. It's scheduled to resume late Friday, with North Carolina-Wake Forest to follow .
SEC: Florida, which had a bye Friday in Hoover, Ala., plays Georgia at 1:30 today. The Gators get two chances for one victory that would put them into Sunday's 2 p.m. championship game (ESPN2). Georgia ousted top seed South Carolina 4-2. The other semifinal pits Vanderbilt, which had a bye Friday, against Arkansas, with the Razorbacks needing two victories to advance. Arkansas eliminated Alabama 4-1.
Big east: At Bright House Field in Clearwater, Louisville eliminated Pittsburgh 12-2 and Connecticut eliminated Notre Dame 9-3. Louisville was led by third baseman Cade Stallings' grand slam in the eighth. UConn was led by first baseman Mike Nemeth, who was 4-for-4 with an RBI. In today's semifinals, Louisville plays St. John's at 10 a.m., needing to beat the Red Storm twice to reach the title game, and UConn plays Seton Hall at 1, with additional games at 5 and 6:30 or 8 if needed. The championship game is at noon Sunday (ESPNU).
Conference USA: UCF (38-21) lost to Rice 4-2 in a tournament semifinal and was eliminated in Pearl, Miss. Rice plays Houston tonight for the title.
Football
Ohio state: A tattoo parlor owner who bought Buckeyes memorabilia was charged in federal court with drug trafficking and money laundering. His attorney said there's no connection with the scandal unfolding over the sale of the items.
Edward Rife, 31, will plead guilty to the charges and cooperate with authorities, documents filed in U.S. District Court indicated. The charges and Rife's plea agreement don't mention the sale of the memorabilia.
Also, Ohio State cited privacy laws in declining to provide communications to and from coach Jim Tressel and other administrators regarding the relationship between star quarterback Terrelle Pryor and his hometown mentor.
Forcier scare: Police in Grand Rapids, Mich., say a woman called them April 22 because she was concerned that former Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier was going to jump from her apartment window. An officer got Forcier to open the door and no police action was taken. The police report says Forcier locked himself in a bedroom and a woman said he was leaning out a window. Other details were redacted; police declined comment.
Oklahoma: Coach Bob Stoops remembered linebacker Austin Box at his funeral for bringing joy to his teammates and playing a key role in two Big 12 championship runs. Stoops said in his eulogy at an Enid church that Box "gave us all he had" and then presented Box's parents with a helmet and game jersey. Box died May 19; the cause has not been determined.
Basketball
Texas A&M: The school's board of regents approved a five-year, $5 million contract for new coach Billy Kennedy.
USC: Forward Eric Wise will transfer to the Trojans after playing three seasons at UC Irvine. Wise, who averaged 16.3 points and 8.1 rebounds, will sit out the 2011-12 season.
Drake: Former Gator guard Brett Nelson was named an assistant coach. Nelson, 30, a former UCF assistant, was an assistant at Arkansas last year.
Tennis: Florida's Alexandre Lacroix and Sekou Bangoura Jr. beat LSU's Sebastian Carlsson and Neal Skupski 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in doubles to reach the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship at Stanford, Calif. They face Louisville's Austen Childs and Viktor Maksimcuk today. By reaching the quarterfinals, Lacroix and Bangoura become All-Americans, with Lacroix the fifth Gator to accomplish that for a fourth time. It's the first time for Bangoura.
Women's Lacrosse: Sarah Mollison and Katie Schwarzmann scored four goals each as top-ranked Maryland beat Duke 14-8 in Stony Brook, N.Y., to reach the NCAA Championship final for the 20th time. The Terrapins will defend their national title against the winner of North Carolina-Northwestern on Sunday at Kenneth Lavelle Stadium on Long Island.