Colleges

Gators complete sweep of 'Canes with wild win

By wire services
Published February 20, 2006

CORAL GABLES - Bryson Barber had two hits and three RBIs to lead Florida to an 11-10 win Sunday and a three-game sweep of Miami.

Trailing 11-7, Miami scored three in the eighth. But Danny Valencia grounded out to short, stranding the tying run at second.

Florida (6-1), ranked No.1 by Collegiate Baseball , scored 11 despite being outhit 15-6, thanks to a sloppy effort by the No.18 Hurricanes (6-6).

Florida never had swept Miami in a three-game series and is the first to do so at Mark Light Field since Florida State in 2002.

Barber's two-run double keyed a four-run sixth that gave Florida a 10-7 lead. The inning also included a run-scoring double by Brian LeClerc and run-scoring single by Brian Jeroloman.

Florida scored six in the second on one hit. Four batters were hit by pitches - twice with the bases loaded. The Gators also scored on two bases-loaded walks, a sacrifice fly and an error.

FSU 8, UNC-ASHEVILLE 2: Josh Spivey had three hits and three RBIs to help the host Seminoles cap a three-game sweep. Up 5-2, Michael Hyde relieved with no outs in the sixth and men on first and third. But he escaped by striking out the side. In the seventh, consecutive doubles by Buster Posey and Dennis Guinn made it 6-2. One out later, Tony Thomas walked, and a throwing error on Danny Diaz's grounder to second scored Guinn and Thomas.

JACKSONVILLE 8, USF 4: The visiting Bulls (2-4) dropped their third straight. USF trailed 3-2 before the Dolphins' four-run fifth highlighted by Mike McCallister's three-run double.

Softball

USF TAKES TWO: The host Bulls (5-4) earned two shutouts in the Wilson Invitational, 1-0 over College of Charleston and 7-0 over Florida A&M. Countryside High's Bree Spence gave up three hits and struck out six and Crystal River High's Ashley Bullion homered against FAMU. In the first game, Cristi Ecks scattered six hits and struck out seven and Christie Chapman homered.

NO-HITTER: Lindsay Littlejohn pitched the seventh no-hitter in school history, the first by a freshman, to beat Longwood 6-0 in the final game of the GRU Classic for host Florida (7-5). Defending national champion Michigan, No.1 in the ESPN/USA poll, toppled the Gators 4-0 earlier in the day.

BARRY 3-2, TAMPA 0-1: The visiting Spartans dropped to 0-3 after being swept.

FOOTBALL: For the second time, Alabama receiver Tyrone Prothro will have a rod inserted Tuesday to stabilize his broken left leg and is optimistic he'll be able to play this season. A rod was inserted the day he was injured against Florida in October, but it had to be removed about three weeks later due to infection.

GOLF: Host Florida's men won the Gator Invitational, shooting 855 for the three-day event, six better than Tulsa. FSU was third at 869. ... USF sophomore Christina Jones shot 72 to tie Alabama's Amanda Mathis for the first-round lead of the Papa John's Collegiate in Miami Lakes. The Bulls shot 308, nine behind leader College of Charleston in the three-day event.

GYMNASTICS: Florida (11-2) won the N.C. State Triangular meet, scoring 195.95. The host school was second at 191.20.

TENNIS: USF's men (1-1) won three of four three-set matches for a 5-2 win over visiting Georgia State. ... Florida's men (6-2) lost to Mississippi 4-2 in the consolation match of the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Seattle. ... USF's women (3-1) didn't lose a set in beating visiting Florida Atlantic 6-0. ... Host Eckerd's women (4-0) beat Nova Southeastern 6-3.

[Last modified February 20, 2006, 04:01:08]