NASHVILLE -- Former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga golfer Derek Rende from Soddy-Daisy High School blistered the Gaylord Springs Golf Links as the SunTrust Tennessee State Open began Tuesday with a 7-under-par 64. That gave him a three-shot lead over Jason Millard, with Michael Brice, Dan Crockett and Cleveland native Nick Bailes tied for third at 68. Seven others were under par in the first round.
Softball
• Lee University opens pool play in the NAIA softball national tournament against Reinhardt at 11:30 a.m. EDT Thursday at Gulf Shores, Ala. Reinhardt (34-11), the Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament champion after sharing the regular-season title, features pitcher Maddie Monroe from Calhoun, Ga. Senior Brittany Balough and freshman Jessa Watts are 24-3 and 17-6 with earned run averages of 1.30 and 2.40 for Lee (46-10), and Amy Coscorrosa, Dominique Hannah, Jennifer Ringle, Charlie Wooden and Kelsey Barnes are batting .441, .417, .416, .385 and .377 for the Lady Flames. Coscorrosa and Wooden each has batted in 63 runs and has scored 43 and 47, while Wooden has 50 RBIs with 39 runs and leadoff batter Ringle has scored 45 runs. No. 2 batter Savanna Bell has scored 50 with a .325 average. Lee plays Morningside (28-18) from Iowa at 3 p.m. EDT Friday and Central Baptist (50-5) from Arkansas at 5:30 Saturday. The eight pool winners go into double-elimination play Monday. Shorter (46-11) plays St. Gregory's (43-14) fromOklahoma at 1:30 EDT Thursday, Madonna (33-12) from Michigan at 6 on Friday and Oregon Tech (39-7) at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. Charlsie Broome and Emily Clements from LaFayette High School are batting .429 and .369 with 46 and 54 RBIs and 60 and 31 runs scored for Shorter's Lady Hawks, Broome with 11 homers, and Bre Johnson from Calhoun High is hitting .331 with 43 RBIs and 10 homers. Maddie Bray from Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe is batting .294 and has a 14-5 pitching record with a save and a 1.14 ERA.
Baseball
• As the second and fourth seeds, the Lee University and Tennessee Wesleyan College baseball teams will be in opposite brackets as the 10-team 2012 Avista-NAIA World Series gets under way May 25 in Lewiston, Idaho. Wesleyan, which is 48-11 and won the Kingsport (Tenn.) Opening Round Series without a loss last Saturday night, plays that opening Friday against fifth-seeded Embry-Riddle (43-16) at 6 p.m. EDT. Lee (54-9-1), which survived a loss to win the Cleveland (Tenn.) series Monday, has a first-round bye and opens May 26 at 6 EDT against the winner Friday between seventh seed Point Park of Pennsylvania (51-9) and 10th-seeded College of Idaho (41-19). LSU Shreveport (51-4) is the top seed.