TheState.com: Sports

Braves’ Teheran strong for 8 1/3 innings, Uggla blasts three-run homer vs. Twins

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:32 EDT

Julio Teheran pitched 81/3 strong innings, Dan Uggla hit a three-run homer and the Atlanta Braves won their fourth straight game with a 5-1 victory over the struggling Minnesota Twins on Monday.

Teheran (3-1) gave up five hits, one run — Josh Willingham’s homer in the ninth — and one walk. He struck out four, throwing 80 of his 123 pitches for strikes.

Cory Gearrin earned his first career save by retiring pinch-hitter Oswaldo Arcia on a flyout.

Minnesota has lost six straight.

The previous longest career outing for Teheran was seven innings, a mark he reached in a no-decision April 29 against Washington and a May 9 victory at San Francisco.

Vanderbilt, LSU headline expanded SEC tournament

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:10 EDT

Vanderbilt and LSU are the favorites to win this week's Southeastern Conference tournament after mowing through regular-season play with uncommon ease.

The real intrigue, however, is the new single-elimination format in the opening round of the tournament.

Instead of the usual double-elimination format, the league's coaches say the sudden-death round was added because of scheduling and the expansion of the tournament field from 10 to 12 teams.

The top four seeds receive a bye to the second round, where double-elimination play begins.

Several teams with borderline NCAA tournament hopes will play crucial games during the opening knockout round, including No. 9 seed Texas A&M and No. 10 Auburn.

On TV and the radio, May 20

Mon, 20 May 2013 01:43 EDT

College Baseball

6 p.m. Florida State at North Carolina. ESPNU

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

7 p.m. Minnesota at Atlanta. SPSO

7 p.m. N.Y. Yankees at Baltimore. ESPN

Steelers RB talks Vietnam War, football ahead of Myrtle Beach Memorial Day parade

Sun, 19 May 2013 22:54 EDT

The city of Myrtle Beach has scored a touchdown in welcoming the grand marshal for its 2013 Memorial Day weekend parade.

Rocky Bleier, who won four Super Bowls as a running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1970s, will cruise as the guest of honor for the parade. It steps off at 10:30 a.m. Saturday on Myrtle Beach’s Ocean Boulevard, heading southward from 27th Avenue North to Ninth Avenue North.

Drafted twice in 1968, first by the Steelers then by Uncle Sam, Bleier put his football career on hold, serving with the U.S. Army in the Vietnam War. Recovering from leg injuries from 1969 and awarded Purple Heart and Bronze Star medals, he worked his way back to play, making the Steelers’ roster in 1972, and his first start in the backfield in 1974.

Calling last week from Pittsburgh, where the Wisconsin native and University of Notre Dame graduate makes home, Bleier spoke about how taking the football field through 1980 helped him voice inner feelings from the battlefield.

Question | How does being the grand marshal of Myrtle Beach’s Memorial Day weekend parade diverge from your annual observance of this truly solemn occasion to remember every brave American who died in service?

Mark Anderson wins Web.com Tour event

Sun, 19 May 2013 18:15 EDT

Former South Carolina player Mark Anderson won the BMW Charity Pro-Am on Sunday for his first Web.com Tour title, closing with a 6-under 65 at the Thornblade Club for a five-stroke victory.

The 27-year-old Anderson had a tournament-record 27-under 259 total, the third-lowest score in relation to par in tour history. He opened with a 63 at The Reserve at Lake Keowee, added a 67 at Greenville Country Club and took a one-stroke lead Saturday with a 64 at Thornblade.

Anderson earned $117,000 to jump from 133rd to ninth on the money list with $124,535.

"To get that first professional victory is the toughest," Anderson said. "This means a lot. It's been four years really and it's been a struggle this year. It really hasn't looked that great but I felt good this week.

"To get this victory in South Carolina is awesome. This state has done so much for me as far as golf. The South Carolina Junior Golf Association and the South Carolina Golf Association can take credit for this win and lots of other wins by South Carolina natives. To get it here in front of my mom, my dad and my grandparents, it couldn't be any better."

Robin All celebrates his 50th year as PGA of American Class A professional

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:13 EDT

To commemorate his 50th year as a PGA of America Class A professional, Robin All celebrates in his usual manner — teaching and playing the game.

The career that he says started out “with not really a plan” evolved into his competing in a major championship, serving some of the nation’s most revered clubs and rubbing elbows with some of the game’s most storied names.

“It’s been fun,” said All, who has lived in the Columbia area since 1985.

The PGA of America recognizes the golden anniversaries of its Class A members, but his pro days started earlier. He spent five years as an apprentice, beginning at the Country Club of Charleston under Al Esposito, and worked under — and learned from — Hall of Famer Henry Picard for three years.

His association with Picard included stints at Canterbury Golf Club near Cleveland and Seminole in Palm Beach, Fla. He spent time in Buffalo, N.Y., and five years at Yeamans Hall near Charleston, and he found time to test his skills on the PGA Tour.

Carpenter wins pole for Indy 500

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:04 EDT

Ed Carpenter turned Pole Day into a family celebration.

The stepson of IndyCar founder Tony George became the first member of the Hulman family to win the biggest pre-race event in the series — the Indianapolis 500 pole.

Carpenter produced a stunning finish to a day that was rife with suspense but lacked surprise. His four-lap average of 228.762 mph was quick enough to break up what appeared to be a Team Penske-Andretti Autosport lock on the front three rows in the nine-car shootout for the pole.

Somehow, Carpenter, who owns his team, beat the big-name guys.

“To be a single-car team in this Chevy shootout, I am going to call it fighting with the Penske and Andretti guys,” said Carpenter, whose pit crew carried him off pit road on their shoulders after an agonizing wait to see if his time would hold up.

Sunday commentary: Jimbo Fisher should not release recruit from letter of intent

Sat, 18 May 2013 23:53 EDT

DON’T DO IT, Jimbo

Don’t bend to public pressure.

You might come out looking like a good guy if you do, but you would be setting a very bad precedent.

We are talking about Florida State football coach Jimbo Fisher and the controversy surrounding one of the elite recruits in the country — linebacker Matthew Thomas — who wants to be released from the letter of intent he signed with the Seminoles in February.

Now Thomas says he never really wanted to go to Florida State, but signed the letter of intent to please his mother. He wants the Seminoles to release him so he can transfer to either Southern Cal or Georgia. If FSU doesn’t release him, he still can transfer but would have to sit a year before he becomes eligible to play.

Justin Upton’s sixth-inning grand slam lifts Braves over visiting Dodgers

Sat, 18 May 2013 00:24 EDT

Justin Upton gave Atlanta the lead with a sixth-inning grand slam, and the Braves unveiled their full-strength lineup, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-5 on Friday night.

Upton drove in five runs hitting behind Jason Heyward, who had two hits with an RBI in his first game back after having his appendix removed April 22.

It was the first time this season the Braves had Heyward in the lineup along with catcher Brian McCann, who missed the first 30 games while recovering from offseason shoulder surgery.

Scott Van Slyke hit two homers for the Dodgers, who led 4-2 before Upton’s third career grand slam.

Paul Maholm (5-4) allowed eight hits and four runs — two earned — in six innings, and Craig Kimbrel pitched the ninth for his 12th save.

ACC basketball coaches enthusiastic about new teams

Fri, 17 May 2013 21:11 EDT

Less than an hour after he lost the frenzied sweepstakes for college basketball’s prized top prospect, Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton was optimistic about the future.

No. 1 recruit Andrew Wiggins, who had the potential to be a program-defining athlete for the Seminoles, chose Kansas after FSU.

Strange is as it might have been shortly after losing the Wiggins sweepstakes, Hamilton was upbeat about the Seminoles’ future because major changes in the ACC could lead to more elite recruits taking a long look at Tallahassee.

His enthusiasm was shared by fellow ACC men’s basketball coaches and league leaders during the ACC spring meetings.

Four new schools are joining the conference in the next two years and a recent grant of media rights deal likely locks all members into the ACC through 2026.