Times wires
Friday, June 3, 2011
DESTIN — The presidents of the SEC schools overruled their coaches and cracked down on the practice of oversigning football recruits, reducing the annual limit from 28 to 25 on Friday.
The coaches voted against the proposal on Wednesday. They complained the 28-player limit, instituted two years ago, hadn't had enough time to be evaluated. And South Carolina's Steve Spurrier said oversigning was a way of guarding against players not qualifying academically.
The presidents and commissioner Mike Slive, however, saw more concern in high-number recruiting classes (South Carolina had 32 this year) and the perception of players being forced off the roster unwillingly.
"Obviously, this is not a quick fix. This is not a one-size-fits-all model here," Florida president Bernie Machen said. "But I think it gives us assurances that we're treating our student-athletes as close as the way we would take care of other students in our universities."
The presidents also voted to eliminate divisions in men's basketball. The coaches approved the plan Wednesday, citing competitive imbalance. (All five NCAA bids last season went to the East.) Teams will be seeded 1 through 12 for the tournament with the top four receiving byes. The SEC will keep a 16-game league schedule for this season but increase it to an undetermined number afterward.
Baseball: Gators start tournament with rout
GAINESVILLE — Preston Tucker went 3-for-6 with two homers and five RBIs to help lead Florida to a 17-3 victory over Manhattan in the opener of the NCAA regional tournament.
It was the second multiple homer game for the former Plant High standout, who has 12 homers and 59 RBIs this season.
"When you see guys succeeding in front of you it gives you a lot of confidence, too," said Tucker, whose team scored 16 runs over the first three innings. "Just being able to relax and stay loose at the plate paid off."
Florida plays Miami, a 7-2 winner over Jacksonville, at 4 today. The winner gets two chances to advance to the Super Regionals. Jacksonville and Manhattan play an elimination game at noon.
Florida, however, lost first baseman and closer Austin Maddox to a sprained right foot when he crashed into the wall chasing a fly ball. His status is uncertain.
FSU ekes by: Mike McGee hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth to help host Florida State beat Bethune-Cookman 6-5 in its regional tournament opener. The Wildcats hit four homers to scare the No. 5 overall seed. But reliever Brian Bush pitched 21/3 scoreless innings to earn the win. FSU faces Alabama, a 5-3 winner over Central Florida, at 6 tonight. The winner gets two chances to advance to the Super Regionals. Bethune-Cookman and UCF play an elimination game at noon.
Softball: Kelsi Dunne pitched six innings to increase her scoreless streak to 242/3 and lead Alabama past Baylor 3-0 at the World Series in Oklahoma City. Sunday, the Crimson Tide will have two chances to advance to the best-of-three final. Tonight, Baylor faces the winner of today's game between Cal and Oklahoma State.
Men's basketball
Penn St.: Boston's Pat Chambers was hired as coach. He went 42-28 in two seasons with the Terriers and led them to last season's NCAA Tournament. Chambers replaces Ed DeChellis, who resigned to take over at Navy.
USF: Steve Roccaforte, who spent the past five seasons as coach at Lamar, was hired as an assistant. Roccaforte, 46, went 76-78 in five seasons, including 13-17 last season. He replaces Jeremy Cox, who became an assistant at Nebraska.
Times staff writers Antonya English and Greg Auman contributed to this report.