Mocs' Tull being honored by state hall of fame and other sports news

Davis Tull (90) goes eye-eye with Austin Peay quarterback Darrien Boone (4) in this Sept. 13, 2014, file photo.
Davis Tull (90) goes eye-eye with Austin Peay quarterback Darrien Boone (4) in this Sept. 13, 2014, file photo.

As departing University of Tennessee at Chattanooga All-America defensive end Davis Tull awaits an unknown NFL opportunity, he knows he will be honored by the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame on June 6 in Nashville. He will receive the Perseverance Award at the Champions Within Luncheon set for 11:30 a.m. CDT that day at the Omni Nashville Hotel. The hall's release Wednesday noted Tull's broken femur in his senior year at Bearden High School in Nashville and the lost interest from FBS schools after the injury. "Davis was fortunate to be offered a chance to be a walk-on player at UT-Chattanooga," the release said. "Since that time Davis has been one of the most dominant defensive players in college football." He was the Southern Conference defensive player of the year three times. Five other people with inspirational stories also will be honored at the luncheon. Tickets =cost $40 and may be reserved by calling 615-202-3996.

* McCallie School alumnus William (Billy) Dunavant Jr. will be one of the 2015 inductees into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame the night of June 6 at the Omni Hotel in Nashville. Former Baylor and Duke University football star David Helton already has been announced as the organization's male amateur athlete of the year. Dunavant is the former owner of the Memphis Showboats in the United States Football League and developed the Racquet Club of Memphis. The 1950 McCallie graduate built Dunavant Enterprises Inc. into the world's largest cotton merchandising company.

Golf

* UTC men's golf coach Mark Guhne announced Wednesday the signing of top Canadian junior player Etienne Brault. He joins earlier signee Lake Johnson from Chattanooga Christian as new Mocs for 2015-16. "I got a call from one of our alums, Stephen Fritsch, to check Etienne out," Guhne said in a UTC release. "... He is a strong ball-striker who has the potential to step in right away for us." BRault had three consecutive top-10 finishes on the Future Collegians World Tour in Florida this year, and he won by four strokes at Metro West. He has 23 top-10s and 15 top-fives in his junior career.

Baseball/Softball

* Lee University first baseman Ben Holland was named the National Christian College Athletic Association baseball student-athlete of the week after his performance in a 4-0 week for the Flames. He was 2-for-4 with a home, a double and two RBIs in a 5-0 win over Young Harris and was 5-for-12 with three homers and seven RBIs in the weekend sweep of Christian Brothers. The former Motlow College player leads Lee with 11 homers and 33 RBIs.

* Sewanee sophomores Jackson Cooper and Tony Dykes were named to the 2015 All-Southern Athletic Association baseball second team while Tigers teammates Tyler Minkkinen, Ben Clune and Ryan Tillman received honorable mention. Cooper led the league in triples and was among the leaders in hits, doubles, total bases, RBIs and runs. Dykes batted .375.

* Sewanee freshman pitcher and utility player Shayla Vandergriff from Marion County High School earned All-SAA softball honorable mention.

* Tennessee Wesleyan had both Applachian Athletic Conference softball honorees for last week's run to the AAC tournament championship. The Lady Bulldogs' Brittany Kilduff was the pitcher of the week after winning three games in the tourament and allowing only three earned runs in 19 innings. Teammate Amy Lokker was the tournament MVP and the player of the week after batting .545 with a home run, two doubles and six RBIs, including the single that won the championship game in the seventh inning.

* Tennessee Wesleyan pitcher Tayler Saucedo was the AAC baseball pitcher of week after getting two wins, one with a hitless single inning and the other with seven innings of one-hit pitching. The Bulldogs (39-10, 22-5), now No. 8 in the NAIA rankings, won 20-10 at Union on Sunday and 17-0 and 8-1 Tuesday at Truett-McConnell.

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