Tennessee Tech's Zach Stephens honored by OVC

Tennessee Tech junior first baseman Zach Stephens from Soddy-Daisy was the Ohio Valley Conference baseball player of the week after batting .500 (8-for-16) with two home runs, two doubles, seven RBIs and three runs scored in four victories last week. He batted in three runs in a nonconference win over Alabama A&M, doubled and drove in a run in an extra-inning defeat of Murray State and then went 5-for-5 against MSU on Sunday with two two-run homers, including one that tied the game in the ninth inning and allowed the Golden Eagles to win 10-6 in the 10th. Stephens leads the OVC with 11 homers and 53 RBIs.

• In a weekend series pushed back because of rain, Columbia State overtook Cleveland State in the TCCAA baseball standings and knocked the Cougars out of this week's NJCAA Region VII tournament in Gallatin, Tenn., by winning 9-6 and 13-3 on Sunday and 12-7 on Monday. That leapfrogged the Chargers (29-19, 14-13) past the Cougars (27-20, 13-13) into fifth place with regular-season champion Walters State already in the district playoffs and sitting out the regional. Sunday, Evan Speicher drove in three runs and Michael Hargrove for the Cougars in the first loss, and Colby Harmon accounted for all three in game two with a sacrifice fly and a two-run homer. Columbia State will play Friday at 2 p.m. EDT against Dyersburg State (30-15, 16-9), followed at 5 by Chattanooga State (37-15, 15-11) against host Volunteer State (25-17, 15-10). Chattanooga State also will play Friday in the softball regional at Vol State.

• Lee University is ranked No. 4 nationally in the NAIA but opens play today in the Southern States Athletic Conference baseball tournament in Columbus, Ga., as the second seed. That's because Faulkner is No. 2 in the NAIA with a 44-10 overall record and 25-5 SSAC worksheet compared to the Flames' 43-10 and 24-5 marks. Lee faces Brewton-Parker (14-12 SSAC) at 3:30 p.m. today and Mobile (17-13) at that same time Thursday in pool play and winds up pool action at 7 p.m. Friday against William Carey (19-11).

Softball

• Kentucky pitcher Kelsey Nunley from Soddy-Daisy was the Southeastern Conference softball freshman of the week after wins last week over nationally seventh-ranked Louisville and No. 11 Missouri. Her seven-hit, one-run performance ended a 15-game win streak for Louisville, and she allowed only six hits and one earned run against Missouri. She pitched in all four of the Wildcats' games during the week, going 2-1 with a 1.50 ERA.

• Lee University is the top seed from the East in the SSAC softball tournament that begins Thursday in Columbus, Ga. The Lady Flames (40-9, 23-6), ranked third in the NAIA, play at 6 p.m. Thursday against the winner of the morning opener between West No. 4 seed (and 17th-ranked) William Carey and East No. 5 Emmanuel. Auburn-Montgomery (39-8, 17-7) is the West's top seed.

• Covenant College senior Jenni Jobe from Riverdale, Ga., and freshman Morgan Lane from Chattanooga and Girls Preparatory School made the Great South Athletic Conference softball all-conference team for 2013, and Lane also was an all-freshman selection. She leads the Lady Scots with a .422 batting average and Jobe is second at .386, each with 13 multihit games. Lane, who has 18 RBIs, has struck out only once in 90 at-bats, while Jobe has struck out three times in 101 at-bats and leads the team with 39 hits. Covenant will play Wednesday in the NCCAA Mid-East Region tournament at Jackson, Tenn.

General

• Longtime local sports journalist Stan Crawley is in the intensive care unit at Memorial Hospital. Crawley had heart surgery Saturday and has gone through two other medical procedures since then. His wife, Mary, said he went through 53 units of blood in two days. That number was reduced to five Monday as of early Monday night. The family is asking for donations to Blood Assurance under the account number of 635998, which will be in honor of Crawley in replenishing the blood supply. The donor's blood type does not matter.

Tennis

• Covenant senior Anne Marie Rowe made the All-GSAC women's tennis team for 2013, and the Lady Scots' Catherine Landers from Dalton was an all-freshman pick. Playing mostly at No. 4, Rowe had six GSAC singles victories and nine in all this season, and she teamed with her sister Gretchen for six doubles wins. The Rowes grew up on Lookout Mountain.

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