Baseball Flames swept by Union
Lee University gave up four runs in the eighth and was unable to put a runner on in the final two innings of a 6-5 loss Sunday to Union University as the Bulldogs swept the Gulf South Conference baseball series in Cleveland. Union (26-12, 15-8) took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but Lee responded with four runs in the bottom half. The Flames (21-18, 9-15) tied on Nathan Wierzgac’s home run to left that scored Jordan Howard, then went ahead when Drew Johnson scored on a balk after reaching on a single and moving to third on Tyler Payne’s single and a throwing error. Payne made it 4-2 when he scored on a groundout, and Lee stretched its lead in the seventh when Payne was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, scoring
Jeffrey Chapuran. Wierzgac finished 2-for-3 with two walks and Howard was 2-for-5. Lee committed two errors in the eighth as the Bulldogs rallied.
› Drew Mancuso went 4-for-5 with an RBI and contributed to a five-double day for Sewanee, but the Tigers gave up six runs in the fifth inning and three in the ninth of a 13-6 loss Sunday as visiting Rhodes College swept the Southern Athletic Association series. Trey Akins and Jackson Cooper each went 3-for-5 — Akins with two doubles and three RBIs; Cooper with one double — and Ryan Poole was 2-for-3 with the other double and scored twice for the Tigers (14-17, 6-8), who outhit Rhodes 15-9 but left nine runners on base. Sewanee’s Max Murray added two RBIs via a single and a sacrifice fly. Rhodes (17-15, 9-6) had no one with more than two hits but delivered them timely, and the Tigers committed three errors and gave up four unearned runs while using seven pitchers in the game.
› Tennessee Wesleyan University, ranked sixth in the NAIA, pulled out 4-1 and 1-0 victories Saturday against Truett McConnell in Cleveland, Ga., and is 29-12, 15-3 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference. Chris Washington pitched a four-hitter with seven strikeouts in the finale, when Nehwon Norkeh was 2-for-4 and scored in the sixth inning. Pedro Barrios had the RBI. Cody Erickson had four RBIs and Dan Ward homered in TWU’s 8-3 win Friday.
GOLF
› Sewanee’s men finished ninth out of 15 teams at the Discover DeKalb Emory Invitational on Sunday in Stone Mountain, Ga. The Tigers shot a 288 in the final round, improving on Saturday’s score by 19 strokes to finish at 595, five strokes behind eighth-place Greensboro. Huntingdon College won with a 567, one stroke ahead of the hosts. Gray Matthews followed Saturday’s 74 with a 71 and finished tied for 16th to lead Sewanee. Huntingdon’s Addison Lambeth earned a four-stroke victory by closing with a 64 to finish at 134.
› Sewanee’s women were also ninth out of 15 teams at the Washington University Spring Invitational on Sunday in Madison, Ill. The Tigers closed with a 326 to finish at 646, two shots behind Centre College. Led by individual champion Emily Sallamy (148), Rhodes (597) won by 27 strokes. Sewanee’s top finish came from Meghan Symonds (78-77 — 155), who tied for 14th.
TRACK & FIELD
› UTC student John Payne was eighth in the men’s 5000-meter run Saturday at the Crimson Tide Invitatonal in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The next best finishes for UTC were 18th, but first-year coach Andy Meyer was upbeat. “Overall we had great improvements out of everyone,” he said in a school release. “This was a huge boost for our young kids — our best effort so far this season.”
› Sewanee’s Will DuBose was second in men’s pole vault Saturday at the Rhodes Invitational with a personal record of 4.0 meters, and the Tigers’ Karagan Day was second in women’s javelin with Isabel Smith third in pole vault with a PR of 2.43. Also for Sewanee, Miles Martin was second in the men’s 110-meter hurdles Davis Couch was third in the 400 hurdles, Jourdan Redden was third in the 3000 steeplechase and Meredith Stuber was fifth in the women’s 100 hurdles.