Florida Sports Wires

JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville Sharks announced Wednesday that kicker Marco Capozzoli has been assigned to the Jacksonville Sharks on a one-year contract.   The 28-year-old Capozzoli returns to Jacksonville for his fourth season with the Sharks and fifth season in the AFL. Capozzoli’s most memorable kick on Sea Best Field came during the 2012 season, when he drilled a 51-yard game-winning field goal as time expired to send the Sharks past the Georgia Force in the first round of the playoffs. Capozzoli was also a part of Jacksonville’s ArenaBowl XXIV championship team in 2011, finishing that season with seven field goals made in 11 attempts, and converted on 121 of his 155 point-after tries. Prior to joining the Sharks, Capozzoli began his AFL career with Tulsa in 2010, going three-for-three on field goals and hitting 44 of 53 extra points (83 percent). Over the course of his time in the AFL, Capozzoli has converted 26 of 38 field goals (68.4 percent) and 371 of 454 PATs (...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – After hosting Pro Day and taking Tuesday off, the Florida State football team returned to practice on Wednesday at the Albert J. Dunlap Athletic Training Facility. Now into the third week of spring practice, the Seminoles are continuing to show signs of improvement in all areas but head coach Jimbo Fisher would like to see those improvement happen on a more consistent basis. “We’re getting things done,” said Fisher. “We’ve just got to do them better. (Today was) A good hard day. We got a lot of situations worked. A lot of run, pass, two-minute, a lot of third down stuff. Hopefully, we’ll look at the film and try to get better and go on from it. (It’s) the middle of spring, we’re getting a little better. We just got to keep grinding.” Jesus ‘Bobo’ Wilson was one of the bright spots during Wednesday’s practice as the rising senior wide out returned to practice on Monday after missing the first two weeks. Wilson is coming off a junior campaign in which he set sing...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Freshman right-hander Jackson Kowar limited No. 8 Florida State to one run over five innings as No. 3 Florida notched a 3-2 victory on Tuesday night at The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. A crowd of 9,035 fans watched the Gators secure the regular-season series and emerge victorious for the ninth time in the last 11 meetings between the Sunshine State rivals.  The teams will meet again on April 12 in Tallahassee. Kowar (3-0) scattered five hits, registered four strikeouts and allowed one walk before freshman Brady Singer entered the game with a runner aboard in the sixth. The righty totaled three strikeouts, yielded two hits and an unearned run in three innings and junior Shaun Anderson picked up his fourth save with a perfect ninth in which he had a pair of strikeouts. Freshman Cal Raleigh had given the Seminoles a 1-0 lead in the first inning with a two-out homer to right field. Sophomore Mike Rivera moved the Gators in front, 2-1, the following inn...

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – You never forget your 1000th. A walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th inning propelled head coach Jim Morris to his 1,000th career victory as skipper of the Hurricanes Saturday night, as Edgar Michelangeli lifted fourth-ranked Miami to a series-clinching 5-4 victory over No. 17 Clemson. The win was the second milestone reached in a little over a week for Morris, who became just the sixth coach to win 1,500 games as a Division I head coach last Friday in similar walk-off fashion against Louisville. “A crazy way to get your 1000th win. In the competition of the game, I had no thoughts about the 1,000 [wins] until we won,” Morris said. “We’re competing to try to win a game, and a series.” When asked to reflect on his 23 seasons at the University of Miami, and if he ever thought he could reach 1,000 wins in Coral Gables, Morris paused. “I really didn’t. It was the furthest thing from my mind,” he said, fighting back tears. “I was following, to me, the mos...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida State’s freshman duo of Cal Raleigh and Jackson Lueck combined for five RBI and were vital in helping the Seminoles (18-5, 6-1) establish a six-run lead in the first inning as they topped NC State (16-8, 3-4) 8-5 on Friday evening. Friday night's win was the first of three games in the next 24 hours for the Seminoles as the series was adjusted for the remainder of the weekend. The two teams will now play a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 12:00 pm. As of now, the plan is to play game three of the series (game two of the day) 45 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. In the series opener, FSU relied on Raleigh (2-3, 2 RBI, HR) and Lueck (1-2, 3 RBI), who each had a double in the contest. They were joined among the Seminole offensive leaders by Dylan Busby, who capped off a 1-for-3 outing with two RBI. On the mound, FSU starter Mike Compton pitched 3.1 innings, allowing six hits and four earned runs while striking out two. He was follow...

GREENVILLE, N.C. – JJ Gould belted his fourth home run of the season and Jacksonville totaled eight hits, but the Dolphins fell to East Carolina, 6-3, Thursday at Clark-LeClair Stadium. “I thought Nathan Disch had good stuff tonight but made a couple of mistakes that a nationally-ranked team will make you pay with,” said Head Coach Tim Montez. “I think these guys understand how close they are to being a good, solid ball club. We need to be a mentally tougher now that we’re on the road, because we were in that right until the last pitch, and this series is a good test for all of our club.” Gould’s long ball was a solo shot that came with two-outs in the first inning. ECU (15-7) answered with an RBI single by Eric Tyler in the second. The Pirates took the lead in the fourth on a two-run home run by Bryce Harman. Jacksonville (14-7) scored two runs in the fifth inning thanks a two-out rally. Nathan Koslowski ripped a line drive single and Seth DeWitt reached on infield error. D...

LAS VEGAS – The Tampa Bay Storm will host the Orlando Predators at Amalie Arena in Tampa for the Arena Football League’s 3,000th game to kick off the League’s 29th Season on April 1 at 7 p.m. ET and can be seen on ESPN3/Watch ESPN.  The Storm-Predators rivalry dates back to 1991. “The longevity and perseverance of the Arena Football League is a testament to the high-quality, action-packed and authentic nature of the sport,” said AFL Commissioner Scott C. Butera.  “It also recognizes the quality of our athletes, coaches and operational professionals.  Having Tampa Bay and Orlando involved in our 3,000th game could not be more appropriate.  The rich history of both teams is symbolic of our great game.  The combined total of 17 Hall of Famers between the two speaks volumes to what this rivalry has meant to our history.” A rivalry that has been brewing almost since the inception of the League, the “War on I-4” officially began on June 1, 1991, in Tampa Bay. ...