MJ Brown batted in seven runs and four Lee University pitchers allowed only five hits in 16 innings Saturday as the baseball Flames opened their season by defeating Albany State 12-0 and 4-0 at Olympic Field in Cleveland. Justin Alleman and Logan Campbell combined on a four-hitter with 13 strikeouts in the nine-inning first game, when Brown was 3-for-5 with a home run, a double and six RBIs, Ben Holland homered twice and scored four runs to go with his three RBIs and Luke Toms was 3-for-5 with a triple, a double and two RBIs. Art Vidrio and Tyler Burcham threw a one-hitter in game two, when Brown, Trenton Hill and Tyler Payne had RBIs and Chris Adams was 1-for-1 with a triple, two walks and two runs scored.
* The Cleveland State baseball team bounced back from a 3-0 first-game loss Saturday at Roane State and beat the Raiders 6-2 behind starting pitcher Jake Rogers and relievers Matt Henshaw and Matt Roueche. Jordan Ransom was 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs and Devin Gardner was 2-for-4 with a double for the Cougars (2-1), who scored four runs in the second inning. Colton Morgan allowed only four hits and two runs in his five innings in the first-game loss.
* Bryan College followed its season-opening home baseball wins Friday against fellow NAIA Top 25 member Rio Grande with two wins again Saturday, 4-3 and 2-1. Justin Morhardt was 4-for-7 with a home run and five RBIs in Friday's doubleheader, and Andrew Urbistondo was 5-for-6 with a homer. Cody Rhinehart was 2-for-4 with two RBIs in the opener, and Crandon Wallace and Langston Calhoun each matched Morhardt's two RBIs in game two.
* Covenant College's baseball team began its season Saturday by winning 10-4 and 9-4 at Greensboro College. Joel Johnson and Luke Harvey each had two hits and an RBI, Donny Lewis was 2-for-2 and Stephen Kegley and Jay Epperson each drove in two runs in game one, Epperson going 1-for-1 and Johnson scoring twice. Johnson was 4-for-4 and scored twice again in the rematch, when Harvey and Alex Kerr had two RBIs each.
* Sewanee opened its baseball season Saturday by losing 3-2 and 12-4 to visiting LaGrange. Leadoff batter Trey Akins was 3-for-5 and 1-for-3 and had two RBIs in each game for Sewanee, and Drew Mancuso allowed only one hit in his six innings in game one. J.T. Hintzen left the second game after six innings with a 3-0 lead and nine strikeouts, but the Panthers scored four runs in the seventh and eight in the ninth.
Track & Field
* UTC's Teghan Henderson and Anna Kate Chance had runner-up finishes Saturday in the Middle Tennessee Invitational indoor track and field meet in Murfreesboro. Henderson was second in the mile run in 4:59:32; Chance was second in the 3000-meter run in 10:51.77. Madison Melchionna was sixth in the 400 and Jessica York was eighth in the 800. Though UTC does not have a men's track and team, John Payne from the cross country Mocs won the 3000 in 8:56:36.
* Chattanooga residents Tiana Mills and T.J. Davis of the Carson-Newman track and field team qualified provisionally Friday to compete in the triple jump at the NCAA Division II national meet. They were at East Tennessee State's Buccaneer Invitational. Davis already provisionally qualified in the long jump. Mills was sixth in the event Friday with the 10th best Division II women's distance (11.86 meters) so far this year. Another Eagle from Chattanooga, Randall Freeman, finished fourth in the men's heptathlon after winning the 60-meter dash and the shot put Friday, and that provisionally put him in the nationals.
Softball
* Lexie Dean was 4-for-4 with two RBIs and 2-for-4 with two RBIs again as Lee University topped Montevallo 7-5 and lost 9-7 to Missouri-St. Louis on Saturday in the softball tournament at Gulf Shores, Ala. NiaRaye Ceasar also had two RBIs and Emily Dagnan was 3-for-4 and scored twice in the win for Lee (4-3), and Courtney Crawford was 3-for-4 with Hallie Davis 2-for-4 with a homer in the loss.
* Playing in the Georgia Highlands Border Battle in Cartersville, the Cleveland State softball team began its season Friday with an 11-0 win over West Georgia Tech and a 2-1 defeat of East Georgia College. Kara Headrick pitched a five-inning four-hit shutout, followed by Carly Frost's five-hitter.
Football
* New UTC football staff members Carey Bailey and Rob Spence will be the guest speakers for the Chattanooga Quarterback Club's noon luncheon meeting Monday at Finley Stadium, and the public is invited. Attendance costs $10 with a meal, $4 without. Incidentally, UTC's 2016 recruiting class was ranked No. 1 in the Southern Conference and the seventh best nationally in the FCS by HeroSports.com. SouthernPigskin.com also had the Mocs No. 1 in the SoCon.
Staff Reports