UTC freshman Taylor Deason gets SoCon honor

Friday, January 1, 1904

photo Taylor Deason from UTC
Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga freshman Taylor Deason was named the Southern Conference softball pitcher of the week after her first weekend of official college play. The Clarksville, Tenn., resident pitched complete-game three-hitters against Florida A&M and Florida Atlantic at Dot Richardson's National Collegiate Invitational in Clermont, Fla., and she recorded 13 strikeouts in three appearances for UTC (3-2). After giving up three hits in her first inning, Deason allowed only three runs the rest of the weekend. She has a 1.79 earned run average after 15 2/3 innings.

  • DAYTON, Tenn. -- Rachel Kirby was 3-for-4 with seven RBIs as Bryan College's second-year softball program opened its 2012 season by defeating Tennessee Temple's first-year program 22-0 and 14-0 in two five-inning games Monday. Shanna Chappell pitched a perfect game with seven strikeouts in the opener, when Courtney Combs homered and Britney Hurst went 3-for-5 with four RBIs. Kirby was 2-for-2 with a homer and five RBIs in game two, when Kirstie Jennings homered and Amber Love and Rozlyn Roberts pitched a combined three-hitter with seven strikeouts.

Baseball

  • CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- The Lee University baseball team, ranked No. 3 in the NAIA preseason poll, lost 9-3 to No. 12 Union College on Monday at Olympic Field. The visitors' season-opening win was the first loss in nine games for the Flames, who went 51-14 last year as Union finished 48-12 and No. 8 in the final poll. No. 3 batter Joe Engle was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and leadoff man Clay Ragland was 3-for-6 with two RBIs and two runs scored for the Bulldogs. Chris Avey was 3-for-4 and Edmanuel Rivera had two RBIs for Lee.

  • ATHENS, Tenn. -- The 18th-ranked Tennessee Wesleyan baseball team bounced back from Sunday's 10-9 loss to West Virginia Tech to beat the Golden Bears 3-2 and 5-2 on Monday. The Bulldogs are 4-4.

  • MADISONVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee Temple beat Hiwassee 6-5 and 8-2 in college baseball Monday. Caden Shadrick was 2-for-4 in the first game and 3-for-5 with three RBIs in game two, when Taylor Wilson also had three RBIs and completed a three-double, 4-for-8 day for Temple (4-4). Jon Clayton was 2-for-3 with two doubles in the second game, and freshman Bryan Burnette pitched a two-hitter. Senior Josh Daniel allowed three earned runs in the first game and got the win when Brett Bartley doubled to lead off the seventh inning, went to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Chris Altman's fly. Nico McElrath was 2-for-4 with three RBIs in that game.

Running

  • Former UTC runner David Moore was third overall in the Mercedes Marathon held Sunday in Birmingham, Ala., and Brown Middle School teacher and coach Geno Phillips won the masters division and was fifth overall. Moore, 23, completed the 26.2 miles in 2 hours, 33 minutes, 51 seconds; Phillips, 40, finished in 2:40:21. James Pearce, the 32-year-old reigning Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon winner who is working in Chattanooga for a year, was eighth overall in 2:44:28, completing his ninth under-three-hour marathon in nine states. Chattanoogan John Wiygul was 28th in 2:59:59.

Basketball

  • ATHENS, Tenn. -- Quincy Scates and Desmond Crisp scored 29 and 24 points and E'Jay Ward had 15 points, nine assists and six steals as Tennessee Wesleyan beat visiting Maryville College 100-79 in men's basketball Monday night. TWC is 19-9; Maryville is 15-9.

  • GAINESVILLE, Ga. -- The Lee University women's basketball team, ranked fourth in NAIA Division I, shook off 31-percent first-half shooting and an eight-point halftime deficit to win 72-60 in a Southern States game Monday at Brenau. The Lady Flames (26-1, 18-0) shot 57 percent in the second half. Hollie German scored 21 points and Karley Miller and Angela Spann added 13 and 12 for Lee, Miller with eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Brittney Wiley had 19 points and four steals for Brenau (11-16, 5-11).

Lacrosse

  • Four former McCallie lacrosse players were on the field Sunday as North Carolina defeated Mercer 20-7 at the Lovett School in Atlanta. T.J. Kemp netted the sixth goal and assisted on the final score for the Tar Heels (2-0), and fellow McCallie 2010 graduates Zach Ward and Eoin Collins combined for three goals and an assist for the Bears (0-2). Ward scored first and seventh goals for Mercer and assisted on the second, and Collins had the Bears' sixth score. Mercer freshman Noah Hanover from McCallie was credited with some ground balls in the match.