No. 1 seed Chattanooga State will meet Volunteer State Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. EDT in the winners-bracket final of the TCCAA/NJCAA Region VII softball tournament at Columbia State. Tuesday, Vol State rallied to beat No. 2 seed Walters State 7-5 after Chattanooga State (40-8) won 8-0 in six innings over Motlow State (26-21), which later lost 7-4 to Cleveland State (25-21). Brooke Parrott pitched her second two-hit shutout in as many days for the Lady Tigers, with eight strikeouts, and Breanna Vinson and Mary Kate Pritchett each was 2-f0r-3 with two RBIs and a run scored. Shelby Penning was 2-for-3 and scored twice, and Haley Smith was 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI. For Cleveland State, which plays Walters at 4 EDT, Summer Dean tripled and doubled, batted in two runs and scored two, and Kaitlyn Pickens got the pitching win with a save from Peyton Varela. Pickens pitched the first 25 innings of the tournament for the Lady Cougars, in three days.
Baseball
* Chattanooga State lost 17-9 to No. 1 seed Walters State (48-9) on Tuesday in the state/region baseball tournament at Columbia State. Cleveland State’s season ended 27-20 with a 10-9 loss to Motlow State, which plays Chattanooga State this morning. For Chatt State (32-14), Brandon Parrott was 3-for-5 with a triple, a double and four RBIs and Noah Fitzgerald and Jacob Holton were 3-for-5 and 2-for-5 with two RBIs each. Branson Bowling also was 2-for-5.
Golf
* UTC senior golfer Monica San Juan was 1 under par through 10 holes Tuesday but wound up with a 6-over 78 in the second round of the NCAA Auburn Regional at Opelika, Alabama. That left her tied for 74th at 155 going into the final round Wednesday. Duke is the team leader at 577 with Virginia at 579 and Vanderbilt and Florida State tied for third at 580. Tennessee shares sixth place with Auburn at 589, three shots behind East Carolina.
* The Lee University women’s golfers remained ninth Tuesday with a second consecutive 307 in the NCAA Division II South Regional they are hosting at Cleveland Country Club. The 21st-ranked Lady Flames’ Annika Gino shot a 74 and was tied for 17th individually at 150, while Haverly Harrold was at 154 after a 76 and freshmen Carson McKie and Emily Felix were at 155. The top five teams are No. 8-ranked Lynn at 591, No. 17 Saint Leo at 594, No. 11 Limestone at 597, No. 1 Barry at 598 and No. 5 Florida Tech at 600. The top four, plus the top four individuals not on those teams, advance to the national finals next week.
Track & Field
* Sewanee junior 800-meter standout Ash Midyett is an All-Southern Athletic Association men’s track and field first-team selection for the second time, and his 4×400 relay mates Letherio Jones, Ford McGovern and Erbie Jennings earned second-team honors. Sewanee sophomore Clay McKnight made the All-SAA women’s second team, and Kelsie Schiavone received honorable mention.
Pickleball
* Katie Dyer of Ooltewah and Alice Tym of Chattanooga both were part of gold-medal runs in mixed doubles at the U.S. Open pickleball tournament this past weekend in Naples, Florida. Tym’s title was in the 4.0 75-year-old division. Dyer won in 5.0 35s with Rick Witsken, who was a two-time tennis All-American at Alabama. She also was seventh in the women’s open pro category.
Basketball
* Cleveland State basketball player Jordan Smith from Sequatchie County High School has signed to continue in the sport at Johnson University in Knoxville. She led the Lady Cougars in assists this past season with 3.7 per game and was second in points per game at 11.9. “I am proud of Jordan and her accomplishments on and off of the court,” coach Evelyn Thompson said in a Cleveland State release. “She is as diligent in the classroom as she is on the court, a true student-athlete. I wish I had more time to coach her, and we miss her already. Coach (Amy Carlyle) James is getting a great player and an even better woman.”
* Jon Morgan from Combine Academy in Lincolnton, North Carolina, is joining the Cleveland State men’s program. He’s a 6-foot-6 perimeter player. “Jon is an athletic wing who will help us with his length and understanding of the game,” Cougars coach Lee Cigliano said in a Cleveland State release.