Advertisement

USF advances in AAC baseball tournament

 
Published May 20, 2015

CLEARWATER — Desperate for an 11th-hour impression on the NCAA selection committee, USF spent Tuesday's American Athletic Conference tournament opener racking up precious few style points.

Racking up runs was another matter.

On a searing afternoon in which their ace struggled to keep hitters off balance and their veteran shortstop committed two errors in one inning, the fourth-seeded Bulls (33-22-1) compensated with 12 hits in a 10-6 victory against No. 5 Memphis. USF faces top-seeded Houston in Thursday's 3 p.m. game at Bright House Field.

"At this point, it's not about winning pretty, it's just about finding ways to get it done, and we did that today," said Bulls assistant Mike Current, who co-managed things while coach Mark Kingston served the fourth of a five-game suspension. "We just did a lot of things that win ball games for you."

The Bulls scored their first seven runs with two out. The highlight during that span was a second-inning three-run home run by junior rightfielder Luke Maglich, giving USF a 5-2 lead.

Memphis cut the deficit to 7-6 on Darien Tubbs' two-run triple in the top of the sixth. USF answered with three in the bottom of the inning, highlighted by shortstop Kyle Teaf's RBI triple. Teaf had committed two errors an inning earlier.

"That's just Kyle Teaf being the leader that he is," Current said.

Bulls starter Jimmy Herget earned his ninth win despite allowing six runs on nine hits over six innings. Relievers Michael Farley and Tommy Peterson combined to surrender one hit over the last three innings.

ACC tournament: Josh Sborz took a perfect game into the seventh and Virginia beat Georgia Tech 11-0 in a play-in game in Durham, N.C. The Cavaliers face second-seeded Miami today.

SEC tournament: South Carolina lost 5-1 to Missouri in the opening round in Hoover, Ala. The Gamecocks (32-25) are eliminated and in serious danger of missing the NCAA tournament for the first time in 16 years.

Football: Ex-'Nole Rolle defends Winston

WASHINGTON — Former Florida State star Myron Rolle says Bobby Bowden was wrong to say Seminoles supporters believe Jameis Winston was an embarrassment to the school.

Rolle, 28, a defensive back from 2006-08, won a Rhodes Scholarship while playing for Bowden. He has known Winston since the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, the No. 1 overall pick in April's draft by the Bucs, was in high school.

Bowden said he thought it is "consensus among Florida State fans and boosters that (Winston) was an embarrassment in a lot of ways to the university."

Rolle, who is attending FSU's medical school, said: "That's not who he is. That's not who we are. Certainly Florida State fans didn't appreciate coach's comments too much. … I know coach, he loves FSU. I know his heart's in the right place. I know Jameis will do well and I'm sure he doesn't have any hard feelings toward coach, either.''

Michigan State: Linebacker Drake Martinez is eligible this season after receiving a waiver from the Big Ten. The transfer from Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, Calif. has three years of eligibility. Martinez began his career at Nebraska, where his brother Taylor was a quarterback from 2010-13.

Stay updated on Tampa Bay’s sports scene

Stay updated on Tampa Bay’s sports scene

Subscribe to our free Sports Today newsletter

We’ll send you news and analysis on the Bucs, Lightning, Rays and Florida’s college football teams every day.

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all your options

Basketball

Calipari update: John Calipari says he's not interested in the Pelicans' NBA coaching job and is happy at Kentucky. New Orleans fired Monty Williams a week ago and its roster features former Kentucky star Anthony Davis and Tyreke Evans, who played for Calipari at Memphis.

Purdue: Caleb Swanigan of Fort Wayne, the reigning Indiana Mr. Basketball, plans to play for the Boilermakers next season. He is the first Indiana Mr. Basketball to commit to Purdue since Gary's Glenn Robinson in 1991. The 6-9 Swanigan wants to win a national title in Indiana at a school that hasn't done it before.

SETON HALL: Guard Derrick Gordon, the first openly gay player in Division I men's basketball, will join the Pirates as a graduate transfer. He averaged 9.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists last season for UMass, and graduated this month. He said leaving had nothing to do with his sexuality.

Illinois investigation: The law firm investigating player complaints about the Illinois football team has been asked to look into similar claims involving the women's basketball team, school officials said. One family has threatened legal action.

Tennis

UVA TAKES MEN'S TITLE: Virginia won its second NCAA men's team title in three years and denied top-seeded Oklahoma its first championship, wrapping up the crown when Mitchell Frank won his singles match against Andrew Harris for a 4-1 victory in Waco, Texas.

Information from Times wires was used in this report.