Orange Caravan week from today and other sports news

The Coca-Cola Big Orange Caravan with University of Tennessee coaches Butch Jones, Cuonzo Martin and Holly Warlick will be at the Chattanooga Convention Center a week from tonight, beginning with dinner at 6:30. Doors will open at 6. Vice chancellor and athletic director Dave Hart will join his top coaches in speaking. Tickets cost $25, $15 for ages 10 and under. Registration is requested by tonight at volsconnect.com/2013bocchattanooga.

Baseball

• Covenant College defeated fourth-seeded Victory University 10-3 in the National Christian College Athletic Association Mid-East Region baseball tournament Wednesday in Nashville, and Tennessee Temple lost 7-3 to Union University. Scott Gillespie went 3-for-5 with three RBIs for Covenant, and shortstop K.C. Simons also had three hits in the win. Josh Thomas had two hits in the loss for Tennessee Temple

• Cleveland State pitcher Brandon Zajac and outfielder Chase Edwards were All-TCCAA baseball first-team selections and recently signed to continue their careers at four-year schools. Zajac, a Tennessee transfer who was the TCCAA most valuable pitcher, is going to Middle Tennessee State after compiling a 6-4 record with a 3.17 ERA and 88 strikeouts in 71 innings this season. Edwards, who hit .405 this season and .368 for his Cougars career with 39 extra-base hits, 53 runs and 49 RBIs, signed with Mount Olive College in North Carolina.

Softball

• Under coach Donald Pickett from Whitwell and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the Northwestern State (La.) University softball team begins play today in the Southland Conference tournament with a 37-12 record, the most wins for the program since the Lady Demons went 45-25 the last year they won the Southland tournament. They were second out of 10 teams in the regular season with an 18-7 league record compared to 19-5 for McNeese State. Pickett began his coaching career by assisting Frank Reed at Chattanooga State and UTC.

• University of Memphis senior shortstop Laura Curtis from Chattanooga Christian and Chattanooga State was one of 13 Conference USA players named to the league's all-academic softball team. Curtis has started all but one of the Tigers' 59 games this season and is tied for second in C-USA with 13 doubles and tied for third with 10 sacrifice bunts. She has had seven multiple-hit games and four multi-RBI games and has a 3.61 cumulative grade point average with plans to graduate in August.

Tennis

• The 15th-ranked Sewanee women's tennis team will play Saturday at Emory University in Atlanta in the NCAA Division III tournament. The Tigers (18-5), champions of the Southern Athletic Association, will play the winner of Friday's match between Washington & Lee and Methodist. Sewanee has not played Methodist this season but edged Washington & Lee 5-4 on March 23, also on Emory's courts. In addition, Sewanee's Bronte Goodhue and Jenny Liles in singles and Jenny and Lindsey Liles in doubles have been awarded berths in the national individual tournament May 23-25 in Kalamazoo, Mich. Goodhue, the SAA player of the year, is a GPS graduate.

Football

• East Hamilton offensive lineman Price McGinnis recently committed to continue his football career at Rhodes College in the Southern Athletic Association. McGinnis, who has a 3.9 grade point average, was a Mr. East Hamilton finalist and the CEO of Virtual Enterprise, and he was all-district for the 11-2 Hurricanes last fall. He will be going to the NCAA Division III school in Memphis after being part of the entire East Hamilton varsity football history. He plans to major in commerce and business.

Lacrosse

• The Sewanee women's lacrosse team lost 23-6 Wednesday afternoon at Christopher Newport in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament, and the Sewanee men fell 19-6 at Washington and Lee. Drew Lincoln had two goals to lead the Sewanee men (14-4), and Caitlin-Jean Juricic had a pair of goals in the loss for the Tigers women (13-7).

Golf

• KNOXVILLE -- Former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga golfer Jonathan Hodge advanced through local qualifying for the U.S. Open on Wednesday at Holston Hills. Hodge shot a 6-under 66 and finished two strokes behind medalist Fernando Mercherffe. Eric Axley, who now calls Knoxville home, also advanced to a 36-hole sectional.

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