Colleges

Six from state make softball's NCAA field

By wire services
Published May 16, 2005

Six state schools made the 64-team field for the Division I softball tournament Sunday.

On Friday, Florida (41-21), one of 16 region hosts, faces Bethune-Cookman (47-17) in Gainesville at 3 p.m., and South Florida (40-25) faces Central Florida (41-26-1) in the same region at 1. USF and Florida are making their third straight appearance and seventh overall.

Florida State and Florida A&M are in the Auburn, Ala., region. FSU (33-26), making its 18th trip, opens at 5 p.m. Friday against Auburn (49-16) and FAMU (37-31) faces Baylor (47-12) at 7.

Region play continues Saturday and concludes Sunday with the winners advancing to a best-of-three super region May 27-28 in a format identical to that of the Division I baseball tournament. Those eight winners advance to thedouble-elimination Women's College World Series June 2-8 in Oklahoma City.

CONFERENCE FINALS: In the SEC, Stephanie VanBrakle pitched a one-hitter and hit a three-run homer in the seventh to lead Alabama past Tennessee 3-0 in Gainesville. ... In the ACC, top seed Georgia Tech scored in the fifth to defeat Virginia Tech 1-0 at College Park, Md.

Men's tennis

Florida and Florida State reached the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament. Florida defeated SEC rival Vanderbilt 4-1 as the host Gators (22-5), third in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, won the 17th of their past 18 dual matches. FSU (20-7) topped host Kentucky 4-2, taking two of three matches to win the doubles point.

The round of 16 begins Saturday in College Station, Texas.

Also, West Florida defeated North Florida 5-0 Saturday to win the Division II national championship in Altamonte Springs.

Baseball

FSU 7, NORTH CAROLINA 6 (11): Aaron Cheesman's bases-loaded single with two out in the 11th won it for the host Seminoles. Cheesman had three RBIs for Florida State (46-14, 18-9 ACC), which swept the three-game series, winning twice on the final swing.

SOUTHERN MISS 8, USF 7: Marc Maddox homered in the eighth and had two RBIs for the host Golden Eagles Brandin Daniel homered for the Bulls (29-28, 12-14), who must win one of three against Cincinnati in a series that starts Thursday to qualify for the Conference USA tournament.

MISSISSIPPI ST. 6, FLORIDA 5: Thomas Berkery drove in five runs and Jeffrey Rea scored the winning run in the ninth on a throwing error for the visiting Bulldogs. Brian Jeroloman was 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs for Florida (34-18, 17-10 SEC).

Football

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Temple has accepted an offer to join the Mid-American Conference. The Owls, kicked out of the Big East after last season, are not expected to be a full member of the MAC until 2007. Until then, the Owls will not be eligible for the conference championship, though they will be eligible for bowl games.

UCF STADIUM: Central Florida's hopes of opening a new stadium in time for the 2006 season are in jeopardy. The school's trustees will discuss the stadium at their meeting May 26. School president John Hitt said ground needs to be broken in June.

Elsewhere

TRACK AND FIELD: The UF men finished second in the SEC championships at Nashville, with 116 points, 53 behind Arkansas. Kerron Clement won the 400 hurdles for the Gators, who also took the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. The UF women were eighth; South Carolina (145.2 points) won.

ROWING: Scott Laio, a junior bowman for Boston College, collapsed after his race Saturday at the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia and died at Hahnemann University Hospital. The cause of his death was not known. He collapsed just as his crew won the men's lightweight eight.

[Last modified May 16, 2005, 01:22:06]