Area Sports Notes: Sarah Harris resigns as Covenant basketball coach

Assorted Sports Equipment on Black
Assorted Sports Equipment on Black

Covenant College announced Tuesday that Sarah Harris has resigned as women's basketball coach after five seasons in the job. The decision came after the Lady Scots won eight games in a row before losing in the USA South tournament quarterfinals. At 14-12 they had the program's most wins since the school moved to the NCAA. They won 12 games in 2016-17. "I'm thankful for the tireless work that Sarah has put into the program over the last five years, and grateful for the ways in which she has positioned the program for future success," Covenant athletic director Tim Sceggel said in the release, adding that a national search for her successor has begun.

» The Covenant men's basketball team won 83-67 at Piedmont on Tuesday, taking control with a 13-2 run deep in the second half, and will play No. 1 East seed North Carolina Wesleyan at 5 p.m. Friday in Maryville, Tenn., in the USAS tournament semifinals. Bailey Spragg made five of his seven 3-point shots and scored 23 points for the Scots (17-9), who got 16 from Berto Dryden, 13 from James Mitchell, 10 plus seven rebounds from Caleb Haynes and eight rebounds with nine points from Will Crumly.

Golf

» The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's golf team moved up into a tie for third place in the final round Tuesday of the 13-team Moon Golf Invitational at Melbourne, Fla. The Mocs totaled 881 for 54 holes, led by Monica San Juan in a tie for second individually at 214 and Megan Woods tying for eighth at 218. Cristina Perez shot 225 with Holly Morgan at 229 after a final-round 70. Furman won the team title at 863, and Old Dominion followed at 880, one shot ahead of UTC and Virginia Tech.

» The Lee University women's golf team, ranked 16th in NCAA Division II, won the Converse College Spring Invitational at the Carolina Country Club in Roebuck, S.C., with rounds of 304 and 315 Monday and Tuesday. Lee's Sam Burrus and Annika Gino tied for fifth individually at 155, and Haverly Harrold was eighth at 156 with Caroline Moore and Anne Hedegaard also in the top 15 at 158 and 159.

» Dalton State's NAIA second-ranked Dalton State women's golf team shot a final-round 307 Tuesday and won the Georgetown College Invitational at St. Augustine, Fla. The Lady Roadrunners totaled 621 for a three-shot edge over USC-Beaufort in the 11-team field, and DSC's Isabel Rijos tied for first individually at 150 with Tia Teiniketo tied for fourth at 151, Caroline Griffin sharing 12th at 159 and Hannah Gasaway tied for 18th at 161. In the men's tournament also on the Slammer and Squire coursre, Dalton State was second to Coastal Georgia, 585 to 579, with P.J. Shields tied for second at 143, Dalton Johnson tied for ninth at 147, S.M. Lee and Sport Allmond sharing 13th at 148 and Ben Rebne tied for 21st at 150.

Baseball

» The Lee baseball team scored four runs in the last two innings and ended a five-game losing streak with a 10-9 win Tuesday at Carson-Newman, as Peyton Meeker went 3-for-4 and scored three runs and Spencer Mossburg was 2-for-5 and drove in three. Each hit a home run, as did Jordan Howard for the Flames (4-8), and Thomas Zazzaro was 2-for-4 and got the save as Lee's 10th pitcher. Joe Parete got the win with a two-strikeout eighth inning. Tyler Payne also had two hits for Lee.

» Cleveland State lost 8-2 to visiting Gordon State, falling behind 6-0 through four innings. The Cougars (4-3) scored both of their runs in the fifth, when Joey Roberson walked, Brandon Mason was hit by a pitch, Roberson scored on an error on Trey Vanderpool's sacrifice bunt and Tucker Mendenhall plated Mason with a sacrifice fly. Jermond Williams homered and singled and drove in three runs for Gordon State, and Brett Hawkins was 3-for-4 and scored three.

Softball

» Lee moved up its home softball doubleheader against Miles College a day and won 11-0 and 13-2 Tuesday with five-inning no-hitters by pitchers Leigh Beatenbough and Abby McKinney, with six and seven strikeouts. Beatenbough was 2-for-3 with four RBIs in her win, and McKinney was 2-for-3 with two RBIs in hers, when Taylor Moran was 3-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs and Bailey Church homered and batted in two. In the first game for Lee (9-5), Brooklynn Frazier was 2-for-2 with two runs and an RBI and Caroline Freiling had a two-run pinch hit.

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