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Colleges
The 10th inning
Associated Press
Published June 18, 2005
LATE CHANGE
Thursday, Tennessee coach Rod Delmonico said he would start freshman pitcher James Adkins. Friday, he changed his mind, going with All-America junior Luke Hochevar. "If you tell me who you're pitching, I pretty much tell you," said Florida coach Pat McMahon, who was told of the switch Friday morning. "Am I annoyed? No, our guys are good at accepting challenges. Different programs and different coaches handle things differently." Earlier this season, the Gators pounded Adkins for seven runs in four innings in an 18-9 win. Hochevar, who beat Florida 11-5, said he was ready despite being given little notice. "I prepared like I was going to start," he said. "I was not (caught) off-guard at all."
HONORS
Nebraska third baseman Alex Gordon, the second pick in the draft, won the Dick Howser Trophy as player of the year. Gordon entered the Series hitting .380 with 19 home runs and 64 RBIs. The winner is determined by a media vote in conjunction with the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce. Meanwhile, Florida first baseman Matt LaPorta and Florida State outfielder Shane Robinson were named to the Baseball America All-America first team. Entering the World Series, LaPorta was hitting .335 with 24 homers and 73 homers. Robinson, a former Jesuit star previously named Collegiate Baseball's player of the year, hit .427 with six homers, 43 RBIs and 49 stolen bases.
WATCH OUT!
Tennessee's Julio Borbon and Florida's Gavin Dickey found leftfield to be challenging. Justin Tordi doubled in the second after his rising liner went over Borbon's head. In the fifth, Chase Headley's ball bounced off the heel of Dickey's glove. Tennessee later scored its first run. "I should have made the catch," Dickey said. "But it drifted on me."
MILESTONE
Tennessee-Florida was the 800th Series game since it moved to Omaha in 1950. The first two, in 1947-48, were in Kalamazoo, Mich., and the 1949 tournament was in Wichita, Kan.
[Last modified June 18, 2005, 00:45:19]
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