ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tommy Hanson pitched seven effective innings, Freddie Freeman drove in two runs and the Atlanta Braves beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-3 on Friday night.

Hanson (5-3) allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings. Freeman had a run-scoring double and Brian McCann hit an RBI single that put the Braves up 4-2 in the fifth.

Chipper Jones left after seven innings because of a bruised left calf. The Braves’ third baseman stayed in the game after B.J. Upton’s hard one-hop infield single hit his leg in the third. Juan Francisco pinch-hit for Jones in the eighth.

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CHICAGO — Kerry Wood arrived in the majors 14 years ago, a fresh-faced kid with No. 34 on his back, slinging fastballs at 100 mph, delivering breaking pitches that were often unhittable and striking out 20 batters in just his fifth start.

On Friday, he left the game after one final, emotional appearance with the Chicago Cubs.

Fittingly, “Kid K” struck out the last batter he’ll ever face and retired at the age of 34, ending a career that was eye-popping at times but hampered by injuries.

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Chase Buchanan and Connor Smith wore “Ohio State football” T-shirts to their post-match news conference after beating Florida to reach the NCAA men’s tennis quarterfinals Friday

The Buckeyes players weren’t asked to do so by former Gators and now Buckeyes football coach Urban Meyer.

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The highlight round of the Georgia men’s golf team’s second day at the NCAA Regional began as the Bulldogs’ most forgettable.

After starting the day 4 over through three holes at the UGA Golf Course, T.J. Mitchell rallied back to finish with a 1-under 70 for the team’s only round of the day under par. It helped keep the Bulldogs in fourth place with a 4-over 288 on the day and at even par for the tournament with a 36-hole 568.

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During top-ranked Southern California’s round of 16 match against No. 16 Illinois Friday morning, an Illini fan opined loudly that the Trojans’ Steve Johnson “doesn’t want it.”

That outburst, said veteran USC coach Peter Smith, was exactly the wrong thing to say.

“Whoa. Not Steve Johnson,” Smith said. “Steve Johnson wants it about as much as anybody I’ve ever met.”

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Georgia outfielder Niaja Griffin hadn’t hit a home run all season, so when the first of her career came in the opening game of an NCAA regional, it felt even more special.

Griffin’s third-inning home run keyed Georgia to a 13-3 mercy-rule win in five innings against Coastal Carolina on Friday in the first day of the Athens Regional at the Jack Turner Softball Complex.

“It felt great,” Griffin said. “I was just trying to do what I can. I wasn’t really trying to get a home run. I was just trying to move the runner for the team.”

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The Big 12 and the Southeastern Conference announced a deal Friday that will pit their football regular-season champions against each other in a New Year’s Day bowl game for five years beginning in 2014, positioning themselves for the expected switch to a four-team playoff.

In fact, SEC commissioner Mike Slive all but said it’s coming in Friday’s announcement of the agreement between two of the most successful BCS conferences.

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Georgia is the last Southeastern Conference men’s tennis team standing in the NCAA Championships.

The second-seeded Bulldogs rolled over 15th-seeded North Carolina 4-0 Friday night to reach the quarterfinals after Kentucky, Florida and Ole Miss were bounced earlier in the day in round of 16 action at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.

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