Mocs, Weilguni fourth at Palmetto

AIKEN, S.C. - Led by a fourth-place finish for redshirt freshman Benni Weilguni, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's golf team tied for fourth as the 18-team Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate tournament ended Tuesday. Weilguni's even-par 70 gave him a 210 for 54 holes, four shots out of second and nine behind medalist Bud Cauley from team champion Alabama. The Mocs' 866 was six shots behind runner-up Virginia, 17 behind the No. 2-ranked Crimson Tide. UTC's Stephan Jaeger and Steven Fox tied for 21st and 24th at 219 and 220, and Chris Robb and Davis Bunn tied for 32nd and 38th at 222 and 223.

  • ROME, Ga. - With freshman Geandra Almeida setting program records for best 18- and 36-hole scores of 69 and 142, the Lee University women's golf team overtook NAIA second-ranked Shorter in the Rome News-Tribune Invitational for the Lady Flames' first-ever tournament title. Lee bettered Monday's record round of 304 with a 301 Tuesday at Coosa Country Club to beat runner-up Shorter by nine strokes. Almeida was the medalist, and teammates Courtney Shelton and Sloane Skinner finished fourth at 153 and tied for ninth at 158.

  • CLEVELAND, Tenn. - The University of the Cumberlands won the inaugural Lee Spring Invitational men's golf tournament Tuesday at Cleveland Country Club, while Lee moved up from fifth to third with a 294 for a 599 total. Cumberlands finished at 586 to edge Shorter by four strokes. Shorter's Arvin Bengtsson was the top individual at 137. Lee's Tyler Smith was fifth and all-tournament at 143, and teammates Jeremy Lawson and Hunter Vest shot 152 and 154.

Volleyball

  • DAYTON, Tenn. - Bryan College has hired Dave Shumaker as its new volleyball coach. Shumaker, who compiled a 209-139 record the past decade at Baptist Bible College in Clarks Summit, Pa., takes over the program built by Leo Sayles, now at NCAA Division I member Gardner-Webb. "Dave is a quality, experienced and energetic coach," Bryan athletic director Sandy Zensen said. "He is going to have a wonderful tenure here at Bryan. We are anticipating him to lead the Lady Lions to the next level." In three seasons in the Colonial States Athletic Conference, three of Shumaker's players have been first-team all-conference. His 2005 team went 29-11, and the '06 squad became the first in any BBC sport to reach an NCAA Division III national tournament. "I am excited about coaching at Bryan College because of its excellent education and commitment to Christ-centered athletics," Shumaker said.

Baseball

  • First baseman Connor Lewis was 2-for-4 with a two-run double and a two-run home run as visiting USC Sumter beat Cleveland State 10-2 in junior college baseball Tuesday. Gray Hutchinson and Ryan Mutchnick each was 2-for-3 for Cleveland State (12-8), Hutchinson with a homer. Jaime Harper had a pinch-hit RBI single. Tennessee Temple's game at Bryan College was rained out.

  • NASHVILLE - As Belmont University opened Atlantic Sun baseball play last Friday, McCallie graduate Chase Brookshire pitched a 2-1 win over defending champion Mercer, but the Bears won the next two games. Brookshire allowed six hits and struck out eight batters in 7 1/3 innings, and Baylor alumnus Dylan Craig went 2-for-4 and tripled in former Ooltewah resident Derek Hamblen. Hamblen went 2-for-3 in a 9-0 loss Sunday and 2-for-5 with a run in a 6-2 defeat, when Craig doubled and scored. Hamblen was 2-for-5 with two RBIs and Craig also had an RBI in an 11-3 win Tuesday against Middle Tennessee State. Hamblen (.348) and Craig (.302) are Belmont's leading hitters, and Brookshire has a 3.12 ERA.

Softball

  • The UTC softball doubleheader Tuesday at Tennessee Tech was rained out in the first inning of the first game. UTC begins Southern Conference play by hosting Samford on Saturday and Sunday.

  • The East Tennessee State University softball team is 4-12 but plays at home for the first time this season this weekend. Senior Jessica Duncan from Ooltewah and Chattanooga State struck out nine batters in a 4-1 win against Columbia University but also took two losses despite solid pitching in the USF Under Armour Invitational last weekend in Clearwater, Fla. She had a 1.40 earned run average and 15 strikeouts in her three starts.

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