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LSU ousts FSU in World Series

OKLAHOMA CITY - Kristin Schmidt pitched a four-hitter and struck out 12 to help LSU eliminate Florida State 2-1 in the NCAA softball World Series on Sunday.

Schmidt got her second win in the Series and 37th of the season to advance the Tigers (56-11) to face Cal. The winner of that game plays UCLA in the final tonight.

Schmidt allowed two of her four hits in the first inning as the Seminoles (62-12) got a leadoff homer by Veronica Wootson to tie the score at 1.

Casey Hunter, who took the loss, gave up the winning run in the fourth after pinch-runner Lauren Uhle scored on Sara Fitzgerald's single.

Hunter allowed eight hits and two runs in five innings. Jessica Van der Linden took over for FSU in the sixth.

Lisa Dodd's run-scoring double in the top of the 12th drove in the winning run as defending champion UCLA beat Stanford 3-1 to advance to the title game.

Stephanie Ramos drove in Dodd later in the inning as the Bruins made the final for the 17th time in 23 years. The Bruins (46-9) have won 10 national titles.

Earlier in the day, Stanford (49-19) beat Oklahoma 3-2 to eliminate the Sooners.

FSU CAPTURES ACC: Florida State saved its best for last in the ACC tournament, and catcher Aaron Cheesman said it's only the beginning.

The Seminoles (42-20) took a big early lead and got solid pitching to beat Georgia Tech 17-5 Sunday for the ACC tournament championship in Salem, Va.

"The way Georgia Tech beat us the first four times that we played them this year, for us to keep our heads up and just keep battling - this team has finally come together," Cheesman said. "This now seems like the Florida State teams of the past that I've been on, the great teams."

Cheesman had four hits and scored three times, Shane Robinson drove in runs in his first three at-bats and Eddy Martinez-Esteve homered for the second straight game. Robinson, who was 11-for-26 with six RBIs, was named tournament MVP.

The win completed a remarkable comeback for the Seminoles (42-20), who beat North Carolina on Saturday to make it to the final round, then beat the Yellow Jackets a few hours later to force Sunday's game.

The first victory ended a 20-game winning streak for the Yellow Jackets (41-19). The second made the Seminoles the latest improbable champions.

A year ago, Georgia Tech won a tripleheader on the final day.

Both Seminole victories Saturday were by 8-7 scores and were decided late, giving FSU three of the record eight one-run victories in the tournament.

Both also came after five players suspended for the UNC game for breaking curfew returned, and each played a big role in the last two wins.

"The 20 other guys weren't going to let those five guys getting suspended hurt us," Cheesman said. "More than anything, that right there brought this team together. That might have been the turning point."

Four of the suspended players - Bryan Zech, Tyler Chambliss, Kevin Lynch and Martinez-Esteve - made big contributions Saturday night.

The fifth, Mark Sauls, shook off a two-run first inning and did not allow the Yellow Jackets anything else until the lead had grown to 11-2.

SEC: Zac McCamie pitched into the eighth and South Carolina scored twice in the sixth in Hoover, Ala., capturing its first conference tournament title with a 3-2 win over Vanderbilt.

C-USA: TCU scored in the first and added two in the third as the No. 4 seed held on for a 3-1 win over Southern Miss in the title game in Houston. It is the Horned Frogs' first conference tournament title.

Stanford's Amber Liu won 12 of the final 16 points to beat Fresno State's Jelena Pandzic in Athens, Ga., on Saturday and claim her second straight women's singles championship. The sophomore beat Pandzic 6-4, 0-6, 6-3 to avenge a loss in March. She became the fourth woman to win consecutive singles titles, joining Stanford's Patty Fendick (1986-87) and Laura Granville (2000-01) and Florida's Lisa Raymond (1992-93). UCLA's Daniela Bercek and Lauren Fisher won the doubles title.

In Tulsa, Okla., Michael Kogan of Tulane beat South Alabama's Franticek Babej 6-1, 6-3 to become the first Green Wave player to make the men's singles final since 1955. Kogan faces Baylor's Benjamin Becker today for the title.

Becker defeated Auburn's Gabor Zoltan Pelva 6-3, 7-5 to become the second player from Baylor to reach the championship match.

Kogan is the ninth Tulane player to reach the final. The previous eight came away with a title.

The doubles championship matches Georgia's Bo Hodge and John Isner against Stanford's KC Corkery and Sam Warburg.

Brandon Spillett scored the winner in the second overtime to give Division II LeMoyne its first national championship in any sport, an 11-10 victory over Limestone in Baltimore. In the Division III championship game, Andy Arnold scored four goals as Salisbury earned its fifth national title with a 13-9 victory over Nazareth.