Advertisement

USF eliminated by UCF in AAC baseball; Florida, FSU, Miami win

 
’NOLES win: Tyler Holton gets a hug from Drew Carlton after his strong eight innings help Florida State beat Louisville.
’NOLES win: Tyler Holton gets a hug from Drew Carlton after his strong eight innings help Florida State beat Louisville.
Published May 27, 2017

CLEARWATER — Roughly 16 hours after a ninth-inning collapse against East Carolina in the American Athletic Conference's double-elimination baseball tournament, USF returned to Spectrum Field presumably set for a reboot.

It simply got booted instead.

UCF right-hander Chris Williams held the Bulls (41-17) hitless through nearly seven innings and got a seven-run sixth inning from his offense in the Knights' 12-0 romp. USF, which managed only two hits, learns its postseason destiny Monday during the NCAA selection show at noon on ESPN2.

Williams issued a walk to Duke Stunkel, the second batter he faced, and didn't allow another baserunner until giving up a two-out walk to David Villar in the seventh. Coco Montes followed with a double off the rightfield wall for USF's first hit.

Top-seeded UCF (40-19) sent 11 batters to the plate in the sixth, its five hits including No. 9 batter Logan Heiser's two-run homer. The onslaught began when shortstop Kevin Merrell committed a one-out error, followed by three consecutive hits that chased Bulls starter Peter Strzelecki (3-4).

SEC BASEBALL: Deacon Liput had two hits and four RBIs during Florida's 11-run rally in the eighth inning and the top-seeded Gators beat Mississippi State 12-3 to reach the conference tournament semifinals in Hoover, Ala. Florida (42-15), which tied an SEC tournament record for runs in an inning, plays today (4, SEC Network) against the winner of Friday night's Mississippi State-Arkansas game.

ACC BASEBALL: Tyler Holton scattered four hits over eight innings and struck out 10, Jackson Lueck and Matt Henderson each had two-run hits and Florida State eliminated host Louisville 6-2 to advance to the semifinals of the conference tournament. The Seminoles (37-20) play Duke at noon today. … Edgar Michelangeli homered and Miami beat Wake Forest 5-2. The Hurricanes (31-26) today face UNC or N.C. State. Miami trailed 2-0 entering the seventh.

BASKETBALL: Seven people who threatened referee John Higgins for days after Kentucky's 75-73 loss to North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament semifinals on March 26 have been identified. Information will be referred to authorities in their jurisdictions and to the FBI's Omaha field office, a Nebraska prosecutor said. Higgins lives in Omaha.

SOFTBALL: Jessica Burroughs pitched a complete-game three-hitter and host FSU beat LSU 3-1 in the opener of their best-of-three Super Region. Former Alonso High standout Jessie Warren gave FSU a 1-0 lead with a third-inning single. Game 2 is at 3 today (ESPN). … Amanda Lorenz hit a two-run homer and Delanie Gourley shut down Alabama as host Florida won 2-0 to tie their Super Region at one game apiece. Game 3 is at 5 today (ESPN). Super Region winners advance to the Women's College World Series.

Information from Times wires was used in this report.