Sixth-ranked Tennessee beat No. 1 Faulkner 18-12 in NAIA baseball Tuesday in Athens, Tenn.
The Alabama team scored five runs in the first inning and went up 6-0 in the second, but Wesleyan (30-12) responded with a five-run second and broke a 12-12 tie with a six-run eighth featuring Alfred Cruz's two-run home run and a three-run shot by Dan Ward.
Ward was 4-for-6 with three homers and six RBIs, while Cruz was 4-for-6 with four RBIs and three runs. Colin Ridout was 4-for-5 with two doubles, three runs and two RBIs, and Adrian Gonzalez was 3-for-4 with three runs. Alex Balter was 1-for-2 with a homer in the win.
Bryan College, ranked 20th, had its game scheduled for Tuesday at Georgetown, Ky., canceled, but the Lions could celebrate Trevor Behrent being honored as the Appalachian Athletic Conference player of the week for the second time in three weeks.
He was honored this time for batting .538 with two home runs, six runs batted in and six scored in four games. He's hitting .385 with a .704 slugging percentage for the season. He has 11 homers, a triple, eight doubles, 41 RBIs and 38 runs.
Wesleyan's Aaron Ford repeated as the AAC pitcher of the week for his seven-inning one-hitter with 10 strikeouts in a 4-1 win over Truett McConnell.
* At Carrollton, Ga., Cleveland State won 2-1 and 7-0 against West Georgia Tech behind pitchers Ryan LLoyd and Grant Crosby and now is 27-11.
Sean McDermott was 2-for-3 with a homer and Jordan Ransom was 1-for-2 with the other RBI in the first win for the Cougars, when Lloyd threw a two-hitter with seven strikeouts. Trent Elliot had a three-run triple in the seven-run third inning of game two. Noah Hill was 3-for-4 and Sean Coakley was 2-for-2 with an RBI, while Crosby allowed five hits in his six innings and Parker Cochran finished the shutout.
Lady Flames split
The Lee University softball team won 7-3 and lost 14-5 on Tuesday at Young Harris.
Leigh Beatenbough and Taylor Moran combined to pitch a four-hitter in the win, when Moran also homered and drove in two runs and Abby McKinney was 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Brooklynn Frazier was 2-for-3 with a homer, a double and three RBIs in the loss for the Lady Flames (29-13), while Annabeth Pruett and Kayla Louie each was 2-for-2.
Young Harris is 36-10.
* At Athens, Tenn., Tennessee Wesleyan followed its 4-3 (eight innings) and 5-4 Appalachian Athletic Conference softball losses to Bryan on Monday with 2-0 and 6-2 victories Tuesday against visiting Union College.
Kim Borowski, Becca Zimmerman and Aubrie Osborne each had two hits, Osborne with an RBI, and Hannah O'Shields scored three runs for Bryan (18-18, 12-4) in Monday's first game, when Briana Muller was 2-for-4 with an RBI, Mackenzie Jackson was 2-fo-3 and Baylee Sutton drove in two runs for Wesleyan. The Lady Lions led 5-0 in game two, including a two-run hit by Olivia Gore, and weathered a four-run sixth for TWU. Zimmerman was 4-for-4, and Borowski and Heidi Smith each was 2-for-3.
Rachel Matthews pitched a five-hitter in the first win Tuesday for TWU (19-13, 11-7), and Sutton was 2-for-2 with a triple and an RBI and Rachel Percy was 2-for-3 and scored a run. Courtney Black Black was 2-for-3 and scored twice and Makenzie Hopkins had two RBIs in support of Hanna Manley's pitching in game two.
* The two Chattanooga-area players on Brenau's NAIA third-ranked softball team helped the Golden Tigers rise to 39-5 overall and 18-0 in the Southern States Athletic Conference team wih 3-2 and 4-1 wins last weekend at Martin Methodist.
Kelsey Payne from East Hamilton had the go-ahead RBI double in the first game, and Savannah Moore from Soddy-Daisy had an RBI in game two.