Home runs by Brook Womack in the first inning and Amanda Beltran in the second carried the University of Tennesseee at Chattanooga to a 3-1 win over fifth-seeded Samford in the first game of the Southern Conference softball tournament Wednesday in Greensboro, N.C. Aly Walker was on base for the homer by Womack, who had two hits in the game, and Celie Hudson allowed six hits in six innings pitched with Allison Swinford recording a save. SoCon player of the year Shelby Maze was 2-for-4 with the first-inning run scored for Samford. UTC, the fourth seed, plays top-seeded tournament host UNC Greensboro today at 12:30 p.m., just before No. 2 seed Mercer takes on No. 6 seed East Tennessee State, a 4-1 winner over third seed Furman with Cleveland High School graduate Lauren Lee collecting half of the Buccaneers' six hits. She was 3-for-4 with a double. Mercer scored seven runs in the last two innings to clip No. 7 seed Western Carolina 8-7.
Baseball
» Seventh-seeded Lee University lost 7-6 to Mississippi College in the Gulf South Conference baseball tournament championship game Wednesday in Cleveland, Miss. The Choctaws (33-15) earned an automatic berth in the NCAA Division II South Regional. They won their pool by upsetting top-seeded host Delta State 9-8 in 11 innings late Tuesday night. Wednesday, Jordan Howard hit a three-run home run and Miguel Pimentel, Spencer Mossburg, Chase Gadau, Ryan Beamish and Fernando Ortiz each had two hits for Lee (27-26), which trailed 7-2 after Mississippi College's five-run fifth inning. Gadau scored two runs. Blaine Crim was 4-for-5 with a homer in the win.
Lacrosse
» Lee women's lacrosse coach Addie Wadley has resigned soon after a nine-win season with the program that was winless in 2017, its inaugural year. The former Biola University club team standout and University of Oregon club team head coach said in a Lee release late Tuesday night, "I have loved my time at Lee and am so grateful to have had the opportunity to build this program. It has been an incredible journey, and I am honored to have had the privilege to lead the team to so many firsts." She added, however, that "although this team will always have a piece of my heart, I do feel as though stepping away is what is best for both the team and for myself." Said school president Dr. Paul Conn: "We will always remember Addie as the coach who got our women's lacrosse program started. This was a good year for her and for all of us, and it represents a great step forward."
Tennis
» Sewanee's tennis teams go into NCAA tournament regional matches this weekend - the men at Emory in Atlanta and the women hosting Emory and three other teams - with No. 1 singles players Jack Gray and Clementina Davila having been selected for the Division III individual nationals May 24-26 in Claremont, Calif. Davila is a senior from Mexico City who is 11-2 this spring. Gray is a junior from Chattanooga and Baylor School who is 12-5, 11-4 at No. 1. He played doubles in the 2016 individual nationals with Eric Roddy.
Golf
» Lee's women golfers finished seventh out of 12 teams in the Division II South/Southeast super regional at the Germantown (Tenn.) Country Club. They needed to be in the top three to advance to the national tournament. The Lady Flames added a 307 to their previous rounds of 308 and 308, and seniors Caroline Moore and Sam Burrus tied for sixth individually at 226, Burrus with a closing 71. tied for 28th at 233. Lee sophomore Scott Odell, playing as an individual in the men's super regional in Conover, N.C., slipped to 45th at 221 with a final-day 77.
» Sewanee junior Meghan Symonds moved up into a tie for 21st with a 79 Wednesday in the NCAA Division III women's national tournament at Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla. One of six individuals participating without their teams, she's at 150 after two rounds, eight strokes behind the co-leaders.