SALEM, Va. - Stephen Drew lined a run-scoring single with two outs in the ninth inning, capping a two-run rally to lift Florida State past North Carolina State 6-5 early Thursday in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament.
Late in the day, No. 3 seed FSU posted a 6-3 victory over No. 7 Duke, a surprise 6-5 winner over No. 2 Virginia (42-13) on Wednesday.
Against N.C. State, the Seminoles (38-19) got a leadoff double from Matt Sauls against closer Joey Devine, a wild pitch that moved him to third and a one-out triple from Shane Robinson to tie the score at 5. After Devine struck out Bryan Zech, Drew lined a two-strike pitch up the middle. Drew also hit a two-run homer.
The game started at 11:02 p.m. Wednesday after an earlier rain delay of 2 hours, 43 minutes. It ended at 1:36 a.m.
The Wolfpack turned the tables 12 hours later when it scored twice in the bottom of the ninth for a 6-5 victory that knocked the Cavaliers (42-13) from the tournament. N.C. State (35-21) plays North Carolina this morning.
Garry Bakker pitched a five-hitter and Chris Iannetta homered and drove in four runs as the Tar Heels (39-18) rebounded from an opening 7-6 loss to No. 4 Clemson to eliminate Maryland 14-0. Top seed Georgia Tech stayed unbeaten but had to go 13 innings. The Yellow Jackets scored five in the top of the inning and held on for an 11-7 win over Clemson.
FLORIDA FALLS: Vanderbilt (41-16) scored three early runs in a pitcher's duel and beat Florida 3-0 in the Southeastern Conference tournament at Hoover, Ala. The Gators (39-19) had runners in every inning except two, but they could not push a run across against Ryan Mullins (12 strikeouts) and reliever Jensen Lewis. Tommy Boss pitched a complete game for UF.
The Gators face Georgia in the losers' bracket this afternoon. Georgia eliminated LSU 1-0 on a Clint Sammons single in the bottom of the ninth.
Also, top seed Arkansas held on for a 4-3 win to eliminate Mississippi. The Razorbacks (38-20) play Tennessee tonight.
CONFERENCE USA: Josh Miljavac scored the winning run on a wild pitch with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to cap a three-run rally as No. 7 seed UAB defeated No. 6 Memphis 7-6 to reach the semifinals. It faces the winner of today's Memphis-Southern Miss elimination game. Earlier Thursday, No. 3 seed Southern Miss sidelined No. 2 Tulane 16-4.
ATLANTIC SUN: Former Hernando High star Dee Brown went 3-for-5 with four RBIs as Central Florida (44-14) eliminated Gardner-Webb 10-7 in the tournament at DeLand. UCF faces Florida Atlantic, a 15-1 winner over Stetson.
SUN BELT: Western Kentucky dumped Florida International into the losers' bracket with a 6-5 win in 11 innings. FIU plays South Alabama.
MIAMI: The host Hurricanes (42-11) hit four homers to hand Long Beach State ace Jered Weaver (14-1) his first loss 8-5. Weaver led the nation in wins, ERA (1.25) and strikeouts per nine innings (13.4).
Football
FLORIDA: Apparently, kicking it around on the booster circuit hasn't provided enough excitement for coach Ron Zook. He's going airborne.
On Tuesday, Zook will spend about 45 minutes flying with the Blue Angels while in Pensacola attending the SEC coaches spring meetings. He once held a pilot's license and flew single- and twin-engine planes, but this time he'll be in a two-seater F/A18 capable of reaching speeds of 1,400 mph.
COLORADO: After promising "sweeping" reforms and vowing to change the culture of athletics at her school, Colorado president Elizabeth Hoffman officially reinstated coach Gary Barnett in the wake of an investigation into sexual assault claims against Colorado players and recruits.
Hoffman said that while Barnett has shortcomings, "he is a tough disciplinarian, developer of behavioral guidelines and a man who believes a coach's job is to prepare men and women for their life ahead, not simply excel in athletics."
Tennis
WOMEN: Sixth-seeded Megan Bradley of Miami defeated top seed Raquel Kops-Jones of California 6-3, 6-2 to reach the NCAA singles semifinals at Athens, Ga. She faces third-seeded Jelena Pandzic of Fresno State.
The other semifinal pits unseeded Julie Coin of Clemson and defending champion Amber Liu of Stanford.
MEN: Florida junior Hamid Mirzadeh won in singles to reach the round of 16, then teamed with redshirt sophomore Chris Brandi for a doubles victory at the championships in Tulsa, Okla.
Also, Florida State junior Mat Cloer was eliminated in the round of 32.
Other sports
GOLF: Florida senior Camilo Villegas, sophomore Matt Every and freshman Jessie Mudd were named to the PING All-Southeast Region team, and Gators coach Buddy Alexander was selected Eaton Golf Pride Southeast Region coach of the year in voting by the Golf Coaches Association.
SWIMMING: Tampa signed high school All-Americans John McMahan and Charlie Berge of Chattanooga, Tenn.
BASKETBALL: Forward Rashidat Sadiq, a 6-foot-2 transfer from Central Arizona College, signed with Connecticut. She was second nationally in junior college scoring with 25 points a game.
- Times staff writer Antonya English contributed to this report.
