Florida 5, N. Carolina 2

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Posted 7:32AM on Sunday, June 5, 2005

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) Brian Leclerc's two-run single capped a five-run sixth inning and propelled Florida to a 5-2 victory against North Carolina on Saturday night. Leclerc singled up the middle against starter Andrew Miller, scoring Matt LaPorta and Brian Jeroloman and putting the Gators ahead 5-2. Miller, a 6-foot-6 sophomore returning to his hometown, had been brilliant through five innings. He allowed just one hit and made Florida batters look silly at times. But things changed in the sixth. Miller walked Justin Tordi to open the inning, then gave up consecutive singles to Jared Kubin and Jeff Corsaletti to load the bases with no outs. Adam Davis followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Tordi. Miller then hit LaPorta to reload the bases. Jeroloman blooped a single to shallow center, Brandon McArthur followed with an RBI groundout and then Leclerc delivered a liner that just missed hitting Miller. The Tar Heels (41-18-1) will now play Notre Dame in an elimination game Sunday. The winner of that game will play the Gators (42-20) in a possible championship game later in the day. Miller (8-4) allowed five hits and five runs in eight innings. He also dropped to 0-3 against Florida, Florida State and Miami this season. The Hurricanes roughed him up for nine runs in 2 1-3 innings in April and the Seminoles tagged him for 12 hits and six runs in 5 1-3 innings last month. Still, Miller is widely considered the top left-handed prospect in the country and expected to be a high pick in the 2006 amateur draft. Florida starter Tommy Boss entered the game without nearly the same hype, but pitched one of his best games of the season. Boss (7-4) gave up three hits and two runs in the third complete game of his career and his first this season. His only blemish was a two-run homer to Chad Flack in the fourth that gave the Tar Heels the lead until the big sixth inning. It was Flack's 15th homer of the season, a towering shot to left with Greg Mangum aboard. (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)