Florida 8, Florida St. 5

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Posted 7:15AM on Sunday, June 12, 2005

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) Brian Leclerc's two-run homer capped a four-run first inning and helped Florida beat rival Florida State 8-5 Saturday night to win the best-of-three super regional and advance to the College World Series for the first time in seven years. The Gators improved to 5-0 in the NCAA tournament and extended their postseason winning streak against the Seminoles to seven games. Florida (45-20) will make the trip to Omaha, Neb., for the fifth time, still seeking the program's first national championship. The Gators, the No. 7 seed nationally, will open against Southeastern Conference foe Tennessee on Friday. If they play anything like they have so far in the tournament getting strong starting pitching and consistent hitting they could have a good shot at winning it all. The Seminoles (53-20), one of just two teams to advance to the super regionals every year since their inception in 1999, failed to make the College World Series for the fifth consecutive year. The first inning Saturday as well as Alan Horne's 8 1-3 solid innings had a lot to do with that this time around. Adam Davis and Matt LaPorta singled off starter Mark Sauls, and Brian Jeroloman followed with an RBI single to right. LaPorta then scored on Brandon McArthur's groundout, and Leclerc lined Sauls' next pitch down the right-field line for his 13th home run. Sauls (6-2) hit the next batter and then made his way to the bench his shortest outing of the season. He gave up four hits and four runs in two-thirds of an inning. Much like they did Friday night against Florida State ace Bryan Henry, the Gators credited their success to having faced Sauls twice earlier this season. Leclerc, who also homered in Florida's 8-1 victory Friday night, improved to 11-for-21 in the tournament with 13 RBIs. Florida State chipped away at the lead, scoring a run in the first, third and fourth innings. But the Gators essentially sealed the victory with a three-run sixth. Justin Tordi and Stephen Barton opened the inning with consecutive singles off reliever Mike DiBlasi. Gavin Dickey followed with an RBI single. Davis later added a two-run double down the left-field line. Horne (9-2) had little trouble holding the big lead. He gave up eight hits and five runs and improved to 8-0 in his last 10 starts. He struck out eight, walked five and left to a standing ovation after 148 pitches. Relievers Mike Pete and Connor Falkenbach got the final two outs. Falkenbach picked up his ninth save. Gibbs Chapman and Aaron Cheesman had RBI doubles against Horne, but the rest of the lineup had little success. Horne retired 13 of the final 17 batters he faced. Tony Thomas Jr. hit a solo homer in the ninth for the Seminoles, who also added a final run on Cheesman's single off Falkenbach. (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)