After going 39-19-1 last year, the Lee University baseball team enters the 2016 season with the added anticipation of being eligible for NCAA Division II postseason play. The NAIA World Series had become a perennial destination for coach Mark Brew’s Flames before the Cleveland school’s move to the NCAA and waiting out provisional membership. Their opening opponent today and Sunday at Lee’s Olympic Field is Albany State, which reached the South Regional in 2015. The Flames’ scheduled starting pitchers in today’s doubleheader are junior right-hander Justin Alleman and junior left-hander Art Vidrio, with senior lefty Trenton Hill set for Sunday’s game. “It’s early, but I have been pleased at where we stand in all phases of the game through preseason practice,” Brew said in a Lee release. “Our offense has been strong, and lots of younger players have shown continued improvement.”
‘ The Bryan College baseball team, ranked 23rd in the NAIA preseason poll, opened its season Friday by defeating No. 25 Rio Grande 7-3 and 10-5. They play another doubleheader in Dayton today.
‘ No. 13 Auburn-Montgomery edged visiting Tennessee Wesleyan 5-4 in an opening matchup Friday of ranked NAIA teams. No. 14 Wesleyan led 4-0 midway through the third inning after home runs by Sully Rios Reyes and Omar Gomez. Reyes was 2-for-4 with two RBIs, and Marlor Villafana also was 2-for-4 for the Bulldogs.
‘ Lee Gibson hit a three-run home run in the third inning and pitcher Drew Korzybski struck out eight batters and allowed one run in seven innings as Cleveland State opened its baseball season Friday with a 9-4 home win over Roane State. Also for the winning Cougars, Hagen Wilkey was 2-for-2 with a homer, Sean McDermott was 2-for-5 with two RBIs and Devin Gardner reached base three times and had an RBI triple and two runs scored. For Roane (0-1), Myles Miller was 4-for-5 and Tyler Culpepper hit a ninth-inning three-run homer. The teams will meet today for two games in Harriman, Tenn.
‘ Sewanee’s season-opening baseball series against LaGrange was moved from the Georgia school to Sewanee with a doubleheader today and a third game Sunday. The Tigers have only two seniors and four juniors back from an 11-24 team but do have four returning All-Southern Athletic Association players: Jackson Cooper, Tony Dykes, Tyler Minkkinen and Ryan Tillman.
‘ Chattooga High School senior Amos Willingham recently signed scholarship papers to play baseball for Snead State Community College in Boaz, Ala. He has a 4.0 grade point average at the Summerville, Ga., school. “Amos is a great student-athlete,” Chattooga coach Josh Mitchell said in a release. “He leads by example on the field and sets a high standard for the younger guys to follow. I am extremely lucky to have Amos and this senior class my first year as head coach, because not only is there talent there, but also the leadership qualities and intangibles are present to have a successful season.”
Tennis
‘ The Dalton State men’s tennis team, ranked No. 9 in the NAIA, upset No. 2 Auburn-Montgomery 5-4 on the road Friday as both teams began Southern States Athletic Conference play. The visiting Roadrunners won at No. 1 doubles with Sebastian Dartnell and Nikolay Nikiforov and in singles with Edberg Espinoza, Nikiforov, Joe Bray and Adam Hornby. Espinoza’s 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 win over Vincent Dubosclard at No. 2 decided the team match. “I couldn’t be prouder of the guys,” DSC coach Zack Rogers said in a school release. “We came out and went shot for shot with the winningest program in NAIA history and pulled off the biggest win in our program’s history.”
Basketball
‘ Andrew Johnson’s layup from a Dominic Powell pass with half-a-second to go gave Georgia Northwestern a 73-71 basketball win over The Crown College on Thursday. Tyler Shropshire had 21 points, Darrius Fugh 15 and Powell 12 for the Bobcats (10-12). Johnson scored eight. Luke Dalton had 28 points and 14 rebounds in defeat.
‘ Despite 19 points by Jamie Chauvin, the Sewanee women’s basketball team lost 64-58 to visiting Millsaps in SAA play Friday, but the Sewanee men won 70-65 as Cody Jones had 19 points and eight rebounds. Clay Born scored 15 points, Keshonn Carter added 11, Jacob McCullough had eight assists with 10 points and Brody Stone grabbed 11 rebounds for the Tigers (14-6, 7-2). The Millsaps women are 6-0 in the league; the female Tigers are 3-1.
‘ Jessica Myers had 21 points and eight assists as Averett overcame an 18-point deficit and won 70-67 in USA South women’s basketball Friday at Covenant College. Averett (11-8, 6-5) outscored the Lady Scots 46-29 after halftime. Joanna Smith had 18 points, 14 rebounds and four assists and Aleigha Williams and Bekah Walter scored 14 and 12 points for Covenant (7-11, 4-6), which was 1-of-14 on 3-point shots and made 31 turnovers.