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SEC-FLORIDA-SCAROLINA

Florida advances with 7-2 win over South Carolina

HOOVER, Ala. (AP) Brian Johnson pitched a five-hitter and Mike Zunino hit a two-run homer to lead Florida to a 7-2 win over South Carolina Friday night, eliminating the two-time defending national champions from the Southeastern Conference tournament.

The Gators (42-17) face Vanderbilt on Saturday for a shot at the championship. The Gamecocks (40-17) went 1-2 at Regions Park.

Johnson (7-4) pitched his first career complete game.

He struck out five, didn't walk anybody and coasted through on 89 pitches. He also had an RBI on a bases loaded walk in the fifth.

Casey Turgeon added a two-run single in the three-run fifth to make it 7-0.

Zunino had an RBI groundout in the first and then delivered his league-leading 16th home run with a shot over the left-field fence in the third.

The Gamecocks had beaten Florida twice in the College World Series to claim the national title last season.

SEC-LSU-MISSISSIPPI ST

Mississippi State rallies past LSU 4-3 to advance

HOOVER, Ala. (AP) Matthew Britton's single up the middle brought home the winning run in Mississippi State's 4-3, 10-inning victory over top-seeded LSU Friday in the Southeastern Conference tournament.

Mitch Slauter drove a one-out double to the center field wall for the Bulldogs (37-22), who had rallied with two runs in the ninth and face Kentucky Saturday for a berth in the championship game.

Reliever Nick Rumbelow came in to face Britton, who entered as a pinch-runner in the ninth and scored the tying run.

LSU second baseman JaCoby Jones made a diving stab for the ball but it bounced off his glove. Britton was hitting .149 coming in, but wound up getting swarmed by teammates.

Jonathan Holder (2-0), who hasn't allowed a run in 22 appearances this season, pitched around an error for a scoreless top of the 10th. Holder ran his streak of scoreless innings to 26-1/3 to break Bobby Reed's school record.

PANTHERS-BEASON

Beason comes to teammate Newton's defense

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) Jon Beason may not play offensive tackle, but he's not afraid to protect his quarterback.

Beason, the Panthers' three-time Pro Bowl linebacker, fired back Friday at San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith via Twitter after comments he perceived were a slam on Carolina teammate Cam Newton.

Beason wrote, "Alex smith, don't hate on Cam (because) your stats would've gotten u cut if Peyton decided to come 2 San Fran. Truth b told. That's after a 13-3 yr."

Smith used Newton as an example Wednesday that big stats don't always equate to wins.

Smith said statistics are "totally overblown" and "guess what, you're like the Carolina Panthers and you're going no-huddle the entire second half. Yeah, Cam Newton threw for a lot of 300-yard games. That's great. You're not winning, though."

ACC-FLORIDA STATE-CLEMSON

Clemson claims walkoff win over FSU, 9-7

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) Jon McGibbon's three-run home run in the ninth inning lifted Clemson past Florida State 9-7 at the Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament.

McGibbon finished with four RBIs Friday for the fifth-seeded Tigers (33-25). They can claim a spot in the championship game if they beat eighth-seeded Georgia Tech on Saturday in their Pool A finale.

Clemson trailed 7-6 entering the ninth when Phil Pohl singled with one out and was replaced by pinch-runner Dominic Attanasio.

Pinch-hitter Mike Dunster then singled, and McGibbon followed by sending Robert Benincasa's 0-1 pitch over the fence in right-center.

Justin Gonzalez homered and drove in two runs for the top-seeded Seminoles (43-14). They fell to 0-2 in the round-robin tournament.