– Freshman Amanda Beltran homered twice and drove in six runs as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team blasted third-seeded Western Carolina 11-3 as the Southern Conference tournament opened Wednesday in Greensboro, N.C. The RBI total set a tournament record. Criket Blanco had a three-run double in the third inning for UTC (29-27), and Ashley Conner followed with a two-run homer ahead of Beltran’s RBI single. After a two-run homer by Crystal Cyr brought the Catamounts (33-23) within 6-3, Beltran hit a solo homer in the fifth and a grand slam in the seventh. Amanda Ross was 2-for-3 and Sam Taylor, Alyssa Taylor and Conner each 2-for-4 for the Mocs, and Anyssa Robles matched Alyssa, Conner and Beltran with two runs. Pitcher Cori Jennings (15-11) allowed seven hits and two earned runs. UTC plays today at 3 against seventh seed Mercer, which upset Furman 5-2. Madison Boyd from GPS homered for East Tennessee State in a 3-2 loss to UNC Greensboro.
– Chattanooga State came all the way back from a first-game loss Monday in the TCCAA/NJCAA Region 7 softball tournament in Columbia, S.C., and took top-seeded Walters State to an extra final Wednesday. The Lady Tigers (45-20) won 11-3 over Dyersburg State, 9-2 over Jackson State and 8-0 over Motlow before topping Columbia State 9-3 in the losers-bracket final, beating the Lady Senators 5-4 and finally falling 9-6. Lillie McCrary, Shannon Plese and Jennah McElheney homered against Columbia, when Plese and Colbie Thomas each had two RBIs and two runs. Plese was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs in the win over Walters; she scored the winner in the seventh on a double by Alaeni Ray. In the finale, Plese was 2-for-3 with a home and two runs, Devan Brown also homered and Brie Levy had an RBI double and scored twice.
Baseball
– Top-seeded Tennessee Wesleyan and No. 2 seed Bryan College won elimination games in the Appalachian Athletic Conference baseball tournament Wednesday in Kingsport, Tenn., but Bryan then lost for the second time in two days to third-seeded Point, 8-6. TWC (42-12), ranked fifth in the NAIA, got revenge against Union (Ky.) in the late game, 16-7, and will play the other Bulldogs again today at noon for the right to challenge Point for the championship. Preston King had two RBIs and Justin Morhardt, Jesus Astudillo and Brookes Jones each was 2-for-3 for Bryan (38-18) in a 6-5 win over Milligan in which the Lions trailed 5-0. Astudillo scored twice. Morhardt was 3-for-5 with four RBIs and King was 3-for-4 and scored twice against Point. Wesleyan beat Bluefield 10-3 as Alfred Cruz and Cody Stroud each had two hits and two RBIs and a run scored and Pedro Barrios was 2-for-4 and scored three times. Danny Guido allowed only one earned run and struck out seven in nine innings.
Basketball
– Central High School senior Darian Hixson signed paperwork Tuesday afternoon to continue her basketball career at Cleveland State, which finished second in the TCCAA in both the regular season and the league tournament this past season. She said she also talked to Huntingdon but liked the idea of improving her stock in a two-year program. “I want to be better than I am, and they had a very good season,” she said. Central coach Rick May said Hixson was a “hard worker” who can improve in college. “She’s very quick, and she jumps well. She’s very athletic,” he said, noting that she averaged about nine points, five rebounds and two steals a game as a senior. “She’s very physical and aggressive to the ball,” assistant coach Ken Smith added. “She dives for every loose ball. Wherever the ball is, she’s there.”
Lacrosse
– The Sewanee men’s lacrosse team lost 9-5 Wednesday night at 20th-ranked Washington & Lee in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament. Two goals by freshman Hayden Hunt gave Sewanee (12-4) a 2-1 first-quarter lead, but the Generals improved to 16-3.