FSU wraps up regular-season softball title behind van der Linden
By Wire services
Published April 25, 2004
TALLAHASSEE - Senior Jessica van der Linden no-hit North Carolina Saturday for Florida State, which clinched the ACC regular-season title with a 5-0 win in Game 2 of a doubleheader.
It was the ninth no-hitter of van der Linden's career. She moved to 22-4 and 2-1 in the ACC and has three no-hitters and a perfect game this season.
The Seminoles are 50-5, 7-1.
In Game 1, junior Casey Hunter picked up her fourth conference shutout and moved to 5-0 in the ACC as she extended her conference scoreless streak to 522/3 innings in a 1-0 win. Van der Linden bounced a single up the middle in the third, scoring Natasha Jacob from second.
UNC is 40-18, 6-4.
MORE SOFTBALL: Florida (39-14, 15-11) dropped an SEC doubleheader against host Mississippi State, falling 7-4 and 9-5. The hot-hitting Bulldogs (33-22, 14-15) totaled 23 hits. ... Houston snapped USF's 26-game home win streak, with a 7-3 win in Game 1, then the Bulls bounced back to win 3-0. In Game 1, the Cougars (29-20, 8-9 C-USA) took a 6-0 lead after a two-run home run from Jenilee Skender in the first and an opposite-field grand slam from Kristen Glowacz in the second. USF moved to 48-9, 16-4. ... Tampa (29-11) swept a doubleheader with host Nova Southeastern (32-26-1), winning 7-0 and 4-3.
BASEBALL: Justin Hoyman pitched a complete game and gave up one earned run in host Florida's 4-2 win over Vanderbilt (27-12, 7-2 SEC). The Gators moved to 30-12, 10-7. ... Richard Giannotti had three hits, including a home run, and five RBIs to lead host Miami (30-8) 22-3 over Virginia (34-9). ... Tampa (36-13) topped host Nova Southeastern (25-23) 9-8, as Erick Monzon drove in the winning run in the ninth. ... Steven Blackwood's two-run home run capped a six-run fourth in visiting Georgia Tech's 12-2 win over mistake-prone Florida State (27-15, 6-5 ACC). GT moved to 24-17, 6-5.
BASKETBALL: Saint Joseph's retired jersey No.14, punctuating the career of Jameer Nelson, the Hawks' only All-American. The 5-foot-11 point guard is the school's career leader in points (2,094) and assists (713).
GOLF: The Miami women (614) were third at the Big East championship, 19 behind leader and host Notre Dame.
TENNIS: The second-seeded Florida men fell 4-1 to third-seeded Georgia in the SEC tournament semifinals in Nashville. UGA meets Ole Miss today.
TRACK & FIELD: The Florida men broke a 27-year-old record in the 4x400-meter relay at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, finishing in 3:01.10.
