Times wires
Saturday, June 4, 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Florida Gators showed they don't have to hit home runs to generate offense at the women's College World Series.
Cheyenne Coyle, Aja Paculba, Tiffany DeFelice and Michelle Moultrie all had RBI singles as the nation's top home run team moved into the semifinals, beating California 5-2 Saturday. The Gators (54-11) face second seed Alabama today, needing to beat their SEC rival twice to reach the best-of-three final series.
Florida had homered twice in each of its first two World Series games to push its NCAA-best total to 114. This time UF got timely hits and capitalized on a series of fielding mistakes by Cal shortstop Britt Vonk.
"That's the difference in this game compared to the game that I started building this program on, with more power than power and speed," said Tim Walton, Florida's sixth-year coach.
Vonk's errant flip to third on Coyle's third-inning infield single allowed the Gators to tie it at 2. Paculba followed with a clean single to put Florida ahead to stay. The Gators tacked on runs in the fourth and fifth on two more infield singles hit to Vonk.
Cal (45-13) reached the game by eliminating Oklahoma State, the only unseeded team in the World Series, 6-2.
Missouri survived by ousting Big 12 rival Oklahoma 4-1. The Tigers (53-9) faced another league rival, Baylor, in an elimination game late Saturday.
Late Friday, the Gators took their first loss of the World Series, 6-5 against top seed Arizona State (57-6).
MEN'S GOLF: Carter Newman birdied the first playoff hole, No. 14, to beat host Oklahoma State's Sean Einhaus and lift defending champion Augusta State to a 3-2 win and into an all-Georgia final today at the NCAA Championship. The Jaguars face Georgia, which defeated Duke 3-2.
FOOTBALL: Terrelle Pryor's godfather disputed an Associated Press report in which he was quoted as saying that the embattled quarterback would return to Ohio State this season. Speaking to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Willie Burns said he was not sure what Pryor would do and said, "He's his own man. If he quits and goes pro, it's on him. If he stays, it's on him." … Nate Montana, 21, son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Montana, pleaded not guilty to DUI and speeding charges after he was stopped in Missoula, Mont. The younger Montana is a quarterback at the University of Montana.
MONEY: The Big 12, down to 10 teams in the fall, will change its distribution formula for college football TV revenue. The remaining teams will evenly share 76 percent of all TV income, up from 57 percent.