Nationally 11th-ranked Tennessee beat Eastern Kentucky twice in nonconference softball Wednesday night, 7-2 and 7-4, and takes a 29-9 overall record into its weekend home series against top-ranked LSU. Meghan Gregg homered in each game with four RBIs total, and Megan Geer had a three-run homer in the first game for the Lady Vols. GPS alumna Tory Lewis doubled and scored two runs for Tennessee in the second game, when East Hamilton graduate Shaliyah Geathers also was 1-for-3 and scored once. New Tennessee men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes will throw out the ceremonial first pitch for Saturday’s 5 p.m. game televised on ESPN. The Lady Vols are 7-5 in the Southeastern Conference, while LSU is 36-4, 9-3 in the league.
* Kelsey Payne from East Hamilton went 2-for-4 and 3-for-4 with three RBIs in each game as Brenau won 8-6 in eight innings and 8-1 in a Southern States Athletic Conference softball doubleheader Wednesday against visiting Faulkner. Fellow freshman Madison Gossett from Dade County (13-8) pitched a seven-hitter in game two, when Savannah Moore from Soddy-Daisy was 1-for-2 and scored twice. Payne hit one of the Golden Tigers’ three home runs in the first game. They are 27-11 overall, 9-7 in the SSAC.
* Third-place Tennessee Wesleyan lost 5-1 and won 7-4 against fourth-place Union College in Appalachian Athletic Conference softball Thursday at Athens, Tenn. Wesleyan is 23-7, 14-4 in the AAC; Union is 21-19, 9-5. Second-place Bryan is 21-11, 11-3 after losing 6-1 and winning 10-8 Wednesday at Truett-McConnell. Olivia Gore was 5-for-9 with two RBIs and two runs scored in the doubleheader for Bryan, and Sarah Hundley was 2-for-3 in each game. In the Lady Lions’ win, Leslie Nunnelly was 4-for-4 with three RBIs, Mariam Wood was 3-for-4 and Becca Zimmerman and Rachel Seitz each had two hits and scored two runs.
* Greensboro College beat visiting Covenant 9-0 and 7-3 in USA South softball Thursday, but Jordan Brett was 4-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs in the second game for Covenant (9-19, 2-16), while Morgan Lane was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Shannon Schmitt had the Lady Scots’ only hit in the five-inning opener.
Baseball
* The University of Pikeville (Ky.) baseball team scored two runs in the bottom of the 10th inning to edge visiting Tennessee Temple 7-6 on Thursday. Temple, which led 5-1 after a four-run third inning, went up 6-5 in the top of the 10th on Clay O’Shield’s double plating Caleb Lee, who led off with a single, but Mike Peluffo doubled to lead off the bottom half, Nicolas Gonzales was hit by a pitch and Erik Manning doubled in both with two outs. Chase White and Lee had RBI doubles and Chase Burke hit an RBI single in the third for the Crusaders (15-8). Trey Hill was 3-for-5 with a first-inning RBI double, and Micah Wyatt, Nico McElrath, Lee and Burke each had two hits in defeat.
Track & Field
* Preston Elwell from Signal Mountain was one of two Winthrop University freshmen who qualified for the 2015 U.S. Track and Field Junior Nationals with their performances last week in the Florida Relays. Elwell was 14th overall in the men’s javelin competition with a throw of 56.50 meters.
Basketball
* Warren Smith has joined the long line of former Dade County High School basketball players deciding to play for Georgia Northwestern Technical College. The 6-foot-3 Smith said “this day means a lot to me” and he’s “thankful for the opportunity” to follow those guys with the Bobcats. He averaged nearly 10 points a game as Dade went 16-10 this past season. “I think his strong suit is shooting the basketball,” Dade coach Glen Hicks said in a GNTC release, adding that Smith has “a lot of untapped potential.” Said Bobcats coach David Stephenson: “Warren is a guy that can be very versatile for us. He’s a ‘tweener guy’ (in size) like a bunch of the guys we get. … I reallly like his effort and hustle.”