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By Times staff and wire reports
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 5, 2001
ATHENS, Ga. -- Georgia's amazing turnaround is complete.
Brandon Moorhead and Bill Sharpton combined on a four-hitter and Jody Pollock had another big hit Monday, leading the Bulldogs to an 8-3 victory against Florida State and the final berth in the College World Series.
Georgia won the best-of-three Super Region two games to one, rebounding from an 11-6 loss earlier in the day that completed a game suspended Sunday because of thunderstorms.
Florida State was denied its fourth trip in a row to the World Series.
The Bulldogs earned their first appearance in Omaha since 1990, when they captured the only national title in school history. But that provides only a glimpse of the remarkable rebound that occurred under coach Ron Polk.
Georgia quickly fell on hard times after its championship, going through a stretch of one winning season in six years.
Polk, the former coach at Mississippi State, was lured out of retirement to rebuild the program. In two years, the Bulldogs won the SEC and got back to Omaha.
In the deciding game, Georgia led 4-2 in the fifth inning when Pollock came to bat with the bases loaded and two outs and doubled in three runs.
Moorhead gave up one hit in the first five innings. He ran into trouble in the seventh, allowing a two-out, run-scoring single to Ryan Barthelemy before Sharpton came in to finish off the Seminoles.
Sharpton didn't allow a hit in the final 2 1/3 innings, getting the final out himself by fielding a grounder from Florida State's leading hitter, John-Ford Griffin.
Sharpton flipped to first and was mobbed by his teammates, disappearing near the mound while the crowd chanted "Omaha! Omaha! Omaha!"
Jeff Keppinger homered again for the Bulldogs, his seventh in eight NCAA tournament games.
The series, already delayed a day because of inclement weather, was halted again Sunday night, with the Seminoles leading 8-6 in the seventh inning of Game 2.
The game was completed Monday, with Daniel Hodges finishing off a two-day stretch in which he threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings.
The Seminoles were appearing in the NCAA tournament for the 24th year in a row and were hoping to reach the World Series four seasons in a row for the first time.
Florida football coach Steve Spurrier had back surgery on Monday morning to repair a bone spur and slightly ruptured disc.
"Coach Spurrier had a bone spur in his back and a small ruptured disc which was pinching a nerve going into his right leg, causing him considerable pain. This was on the opposite side from where surgery was done last August," said neurosurgeon Dr. Arthur Day, who performed the surgery. "We are expecting him to be out of the hospital within the next 24 hours, and we expect a full recovery."
Spurrier also had surgery on his back in August to repair a ruptured disc on the left side of his body. After his last surgery, Spurrier had to ride around in a golf cart during practice and wear a brace on his back.
The Gators will begin practice for the fall in mid-August and will begin their season against Marshall on Sept. 1.
PELL FUNERAL: Charley Pell's former colleagues and players remembered a driven football coach who was on his way to a brilliant career -- a master motivator who demanded perfection.
More than 600 mourners packed First United Methodist Church in Gadsden, Ala., to remember the coach. Pell, a former Florida coach, died at age 60 last week after a yearlong battle with cancer.
AGENT'S ASSOCIATE SENTENCED: The assistant of indicted sports agent Tank Black was sentenced to six months' house arrest for helping pay former Florida football players while they were students and defraud NFL players of millions of dollars.
U.S. District Judge Stephan Mickle also sentenced former sports recruiter Alfred "Tweet" Twitty, 31, to five years' probation and fined him $5,000. Twitty's six months' home confinement was to include electronic monitoring, the judge ordered.
KENTUCKY: Football center Nolan DeVaughn has been charged with alcohol intoxication after being involved in a fight near a campus bar.
USF SOFTBALL: Coach Ken Eriksen was named to the U.S. National Team coaching staff, which will be responsible for selecting the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team.
TAMPA BASKETBALL: Ridgewood basketball standout Joe Anders has accepted a scholarship to play for the Spartans.
The 6-foot-5 forward averaged 12.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists a game for the 20-9 Rams this season.
ECKERD TENNIS: Sophomore Marton Balla, junior Glenn Allsop and freshman Richard Macey were named ITA Division II All-Americans. Balla was chosen for singles, Allsop and Macey were selected for doubles.
- Correspondent Debi Jones and staff writers Antonya English and Jamal Thalji contributed to this report.