Harrison resident Jacob Wheeler finished second Sunday to Ott DeFoe of Blaine, Tennessee – about 20 miles northeast of Knoxville – in the 2019 GEICO Bassmaster Classic based in Knoxville. DeFoe, the first-day leader, caught 18 pounds, 14 ounces in his five-bass limit for a three-day total of 49-3 and received a winning package worth $302,500. Saturday leader Wheeler earned $52,500 for his 45-5 that included 12-15 on Sunday. Brandon Lester of Fayetteville, Tennessee, and Wesley Strader of Spring City were sixth and seventh at 40-5 and 39-8 and got $22,000 and $21,500.
* The Bryan College duo of Cole Sands and Bailey Fain won the Carhartt Bassmaster College Classic presented by Bass Pro Shops on Watts Bar Lake. It was held Sunday in conjunction with the Bassmaster Classic and included nine teams, and Fain and Sands won with a five-fish limit totaling 13-11. A Tusculum tandem was second at 11-6.
Softball
* The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team ended its 11-game stay at the USF Under Armour Invitational in Clearwater, Florida, with an 11-6 win Sunday against Buffalo. UTC (21-7) overcame an early 6-2 deficit with a seven-run third inning and set a season high with 16 hits in the game, including four in four at-bats for Emma Sturdivant, who drove in three runs. Hayleigh Weissenbach tripled and singled and scored three runs, Devan Brown doubled and singled, Aly Walker was 2-for-4 and scored twice, Amanda Beltran hit a two-run double, Halie Williamson had an RBI double and a sacrifice fly and Emily Coltharp doubled and brought in runs with a walk and a sac fly. Allison Swinford (5-2) earned the pitching win with 5 2/3 innings of no-earned-run relief. The Mocs begin Southern Conference play Saturday at Furman.
* Chattanooga State went 3-1 in its weekend TCCAA softball series with visiting Roane State. The nationally 11th-ranked Lady Tigers (18-4, 5-1) won 5-3 and lost 6-4 Saturday and won 3-0 on a Brooke Parrott no-hitter (seven strikeouts) and 7-4 Sunday. The first and last games ended on home runs by Madison Crabtree and Madison Tidmore, respectively. Also in the first win, Haley Smith was 2-for-3 with a two-run double and Madi Morris was 2-for-3 and scored a run. Breanna Vinson was 3-for-4 and Crabtree 2-for-3 in Chattanooga State’s loss, each with an RBI, and Vinson was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Morris was 1-for-2 with an RBI double in Sunday’s first game. Before Tidmore’s winning three-run homer in the finale, Shelby Penning was 2-for-2 with a triple and two walks, Smith was 2-for-3 and Ashlyn Holland homered and singled.