University of Tennessee at Chattanooga basketball fans not able to travel for the men’s and women’s team’s NCAA tournament games this week can gather with other UTC supporters in the Scenic City.
The UTC men (29-5) who are seeded 12th in the East Regional, take on fifth-seeded Indiana (25-7) tonight at 7:10 EDT in Des Moines, Iowa, in the opening round. The Mocs Club will host a watch party at Jefferson’s Restaurant (618 Georgia Ave.), which hosts the Chat with the Mocs program and has hosted other watch parties for UTC in the past.
Tonight’s game will be shown on CBS. Jefferson’s will also be the site of a watch party for the UTC women (24-7), who are a No. 12 seed for the Bridgeport Regional and will face No. 5 seed Mississippi State (26-7) in a first-round game at 2:30 p.m. Friday in Starkville. That game will be shown on ESPN2. The radio broadcasts for UTC’s men and women will both be carried by 96.1 FM. In addition to Jefferson’s, Miller Plaza at 850 Market Street will host a watch party for the UTC women’s team’s game, with four screens in the Waterhouse Pavilion showing the action.
Baseball
* Lee University won 12-9 Wednesday evening in Cartersville, Ga., against Columbus State, the No. 6-ranked team in NCAA Division II. Lee (12-12) led 9-2 after three innings and held off a late rally by Columbus State (20-5). For the Flames, Tyler Payne was 3-for-4 with an RBI, Chris Adams was 3-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI, Geremy Walton had two hits (including a triple) and drove in two runs and Miguel Pimentel had two hits and drove in one run. Ben Holland added a double and three RBIs with a walk. Corbin Lamb (2-0) won in relief, working three innings and allowing an earned run on two hits and a walk. Kyle Briner pitched the final 1 1/3 innings to earn the save, his second of the season, giving up an earned run on two hits, a walk and a hit batter while striking out one.
* Sewanee lost 12-8 to visiting Maryville in 11 innings in NCAA Division III baseball Wednesday. Drew Mancuso went 3-for-4 with five RBIs to lead the Tigers (2-20), while Beau Allen, Jackson Cooper and Tony Dykes each collected two hits, and Trey Akins drove in two runs. The teams used a total of 19 pitchers in the game, which ended after Maryville (17-4) scored four runs in the 11th and kept Sewanee scoreless in a 1-2-3 bottom half.
* Tennessee Wesleyan, ranked 12th in this week’s NAIA poll, topped No. 8 Lindsey Wilson 6-5 Wednesday in Athens. The Bulldogs improved to 15-7 with the nonconference victory.
* The 23rd-ranked Bryan College baseball team began its 12-2 win Tuesday against Hiwassee with a seven-run first-inning onslaught that started with a two-out walk and was capped by a Crandon Wallace grand slam. Justin Morhardt homered and singled and drove in three runs, and Evan Speicher was 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored for Bryan (18-2), while Hunter Tipton allowed four hits and one run in his five innings on the mound. The Lions have outscored their opponents 42-9 in the last four games.
Softball
* Lincoln Memorial sophomore Brianna Taylor, an Ooltewah resident and Arts & Sciences graduate, was the South Atlantic Conference softball pitcher of the week for games on March 7-13, when she struck out 21 batters in four wins and gave up just one earned run in 22 2/3 innings. She pitched a two-hit shutout with eight strikeouts against Ohio Valley.
* Carson-Newman sophomore Katie Pritchett from Heritage High School in Ringgold was the Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s choice as college softball player of the week after she went 11-for-13 in two doubleheader splits last week. She hit two home runs and three doubles, drove in seven runs and scored three. Pritchett is tied for the SAC lead with five homers this season and was batting .415 with a .811 slugging percentage going into a doubleheader Wednesday at North Greenville, when she was 0-for-6 as the Lady Eagles won 4-1 and lost 6-2.
* Lee split a doubleheader Wednesday at Trevecca Nazarene, winning 6-5 and losing 10-9. In the first game, the Lady Flames’ Lexie Dean went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, Hallie Davis was 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs, Amanda Lynn was 2-for-4 with a walk and three runs scored, and Stevie Baird was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Leigh Beatenbough (3-5) earned the complete-game win, allowing five earned runs on seven hits, a walk and two hit batters while striking out one. In the second game, Davis had a third-inning grand slam, Dean was 3-for-4, Baird was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, Lynn was 2-for-4 with a walk, Annabeth Pruett collected two RBIs The Lady Flames are now 12-17 overall.
* Sewanee swept a doubleheader with Trinity on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., winning 11-0 and 11-1, with both games five innings. Sewanee totaled 21 hits in the two games, its first wins in 13 games this season. In the opener, Caroline Holmes and Emily Taylor each went 2-for-3 (with Holmes tallying two RBIs), Courtney Saunders was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, Mackenzie Hobbs had a hit and two RBIs, and Rachel Hoffman and Charlsey Shirey each had a hit and drove in a run. Shirey was the winning pitcher, allowing one hit and two walks while striking out five. In the second game, Shirey was 4-for-4 with two RBIs, Saunders was 2-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI, Hobbs and Hoffman each had a double and two RBIs, Katie Roth doubled and drove in a run and Holmes had a hit and an RBI. Miranda Townsend was the winning pitcher, allowing one hit and walking five while striking out seven.
* Bryan was swept in a doubleheader Wednesday at Auburn University Montgomery, falling 4-3 and 10-2. In the first game, Bryan’s Lacye Walker had a hit and drove in two runs, while Kim Borowski had a hit and an RBI, and Olivia Gore walked twice. Bryan trailed 3-o entering the sixth inning, when it tied in the top half but gave up a run in the bottom half. Borowski went 2-for-3 in the second game, when she was the only Bryan player with multiple hits, although Walker had a hit and drew a walk and Becca Zimmerman doubled and drove in a run. The Lady Lions dropped to 13-9.
* Kelsey Payne from East Hamilton had two hits and Savannah Moore from Soddy-Daisy had an RBI in a 6-3 defeat for Brenau University at Faulkner last Saturday, and they repeated that combination in a 6-5, eight-inning loss Monday at Emmanuel. Brenau (13-12) won Monday’s first game 4-0.
Lacrosse
* Sewanee’s men won 6-5 Wednesday at Eastern in Philadelphia. Hayden Hunt scored three goals, Robbie Berndt had a goal and an assist, and Pat DiMento and Brooks Young each added a goal for the Tigers (4-3). Selby Austin made 12 saves in goal for Sewanee, which never trailed and took 48 shots to Eastern’s 29. Peter Brown and Jake Chintz each recorded an assist.