University of Tennessee freshman Ashley Rogers from Athens and Meigs County High School stardom was an All-Southeast Region first-team softball pitcher announced Thursday by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, and UT-Chattanooga pitcher Celie Hudson was a third-team All-South selection. Hudson, one of only two Southern Conference all-region players, and her Mocs will play host Ole Miss on Friday night at 7 EDT in one NCAA regional, while Rogers and the Lady Volunteers are hosting a regional. Two Lady Vols seniors joined Rogers as all-region choices, with Aubrey Leach repeating on the first team and Haley Bearden making the third team. Rogers, who has pitched six shutouts and leads the Southeastern Conference in league wins with 10 this season, is Tennessee’s first first-team all-region freshman in five years. Hudson had a 1.10 ERA in SoCon games and has 15 wins overall this year.
Baseball
» Tennessee Wesleyan will be one of 10 teams in this year’s NAIA World Series after the Bulldogs beat Florida’s Webber International 8-4 on Thursday to win the Kingsport Bracket. The Bulldogs (52-9), the five-team group’s No. 1 seed, were playing the second-seeded Warriors (38-22) for the third straight day, having beaten Webber 19-7 on Wednesday to start the championship round. Webber edged the Bulldogs 1-0 on Tuesday in the double-elimination event. Webber took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning Thursday, but the Bulldogs’ Anthony Williams hit a three-run homer in the third and Tyler Reichenborn’s homer in the bottom of the fifth led off a four-run inning that included an RBI single by Braden Mosley and an RBI triple by Shamoy Christopher. Webber scored in the seventh and again in the eighth to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 7-4, but Christopher hit a leadoff homer in the eighth as he finished 3-for-4. Jerry Ochoa pitched two innings in relief and was a winner for the second straight day, having earned the decision as the Bulldogs beat Madonna in the losers-bracket final Wednesday. Nine regional winners will join host Lewis-Clark State at the NAIA World Series next week in Lewiston, Idaho. The bracket will be released Friday.
» Lee University senior Miguel Pimentel is the third baseman on the Division II Conference Commissioners Association baseball All-South Region first team for 2019. He wound up second in the Gulf South Conference with 13 home runs, third with four triples and with a .704 slugging percentage, fourth with 36 walks, seventh with 41 RBIs and tied for ninth with 56 hits. His all-region status makes him an All-America candidate.
» Cleveland State outfielder Tucker Mendenhall has committed to continue his career at NAIA power Tennessee Wesleyan. The Cougars’ leader in stolen bases and runs scored this past season, Mendenhall was an All-TCCAA second-team selection. “We are really happy for Tucker: He had a solid two years for us,” coach Mike Policastro said in a Cleveland State release. “He works hard and was a leader for us. I have no doubt that Tucker will leave his mark on Tennessee Wesleyan.”
Golf
» The Dalton State College women’s golf team was tied for fifth after three rounds of the NAIA national tournament in Oklahoma City. The Lady Roadrunners posted a 302 on Thursday after shooting 293 on Tuesday and 309 on Wednesday at Lincoln Park Golf Club’s par-72 West Course, and their 904 total was 20 shots behind leader British Columbia, with Keiser (889), SCAD-Savannah (898) and Oklahoma City (902) also ahead of them. Also in fifth were Loyola-New Orleans and Cumberlands (Kentucky). Isabel Rijos has had the lowest round for Dalton State each day – 71, 75, 72 – and was tied for fourth at 218. Keiser’s Michela Tjan was the 54-hole leader at 214. Also scoring for the Lady Roadrunners on Thursday were Cameron Daniel and Hannah Gasaway, each with a 76, and Katie Dalton (78). Katelyn Skiffen (81) is also competing for DSC.