Shorter University senior center fielder Charlsie Broome from LaFayette, Ga., joined teammate Jackie Castaneda as an NAIA first-team softball All-American on Thursday, a day after she made the No. 2 play of the day for ESPN’s “SportsCenter” and went 3-for-4 with a triple, a double and the only run of the Lady Hawks’ national championship win over eight-time champion Oklahoma City University. Lee University senior pitcher Brittany Balough was a second-team All-American after going 25-3 with a 1.26 earned run average, and Lee’s Ana Coscorrosa and Jennifer Ringle received honorable mention. Balough finished her Lady Flames career with a 2.09 ERA and a 66-22 record for a program-best .750 winning percentage (minimum 50 decisions). Broome batted .433 with 11 home runs, 14 doubles, five triples, 65 runs and 47 RBIs from the leadoff position this year. She said her over-the-fence catch in the top of the ninth inning Wednesday “was routine, and I had it all the way,” but ESPN clearly was more impressed. Shorter’s MVP pitcher Maddie Bray from Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe said, “Charlsie made the play of the game in the ninth, and then she led off the bottom half with a triple and scored the winning run on [LaFayette’s] Emily Clements’ single. That was a very exciting ending.” Bray’s three-hitter and Broome’s catch overcame a seven-hitter by NAIA pitcher of the year Lily LaVelle. “The game was very nerve-racking, but I calmed down as it got going and was able to pitch my best,” Bray said. “Everyone played their hearts out, and it was an amazing experience.”
General
• The Southern Conference announced Thursday that it has expanded its agreement with ESPN3.com, signed last August, to televise league sporting events. Under the new terms, ESPN3 will show “a minimum of 40 exclusive events” each of the next three years. The 40 events will come from eight sports (football, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, softball and baseball). Included in those 40 are eight football games, every game of the men’s basketball tournament and the semifinals and title game of the women’s tournament.
Baseball
• JACKSON, Tenn. — Senior third baseman Sam Eberle from Chattanooga and Notre Dame High School was 3-for-5 with his 18th double of the season and four RBIs as Jacksonville State beat Morehead State 12-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference baseball tournament Thursday. Eberle leads the Gamecocks (27-29) with a .368 batting average, 37 walks and 47 runs scored, and he has 27 extra-base hits and 28 RBIs.