On Campus: Chowan, CNU win softball tourneys
Published 9:51 pm Thursday, April 23, 2009
Chowan won the NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) South Regional Tournament over the weekend in Franklin Springs, Ga.
CU, the top seed entering the tournament, defeated Emmanuel College 1-0 to reach the finals. North Greenville defeated CU 12-7 to force a second final game in the double elimination bracket. CU beat North Greenville 1-0 in eight innings for the title.
Sophomore Mindy Byrd (King’s Fork) went 3 for 9 at the plate in the three games for Chowan (30-21). The Hawks advance to the NCCAA National Tournament in Palm Beach, Fla. in the first week of May.
For the season, Byrd is hitting .230 with a .353 on-base percentage, 29 runs and 10 stolen bases.
Christopher Newport won its seventh USA South softball tournament championship on Sunday in Burlington, N.C., defeating Shenandoah 4-1 in the final game.
Senior Lindsey Kelly (Lakeland) pitched in two of the four tournament games for CNU, totaling 8.0 innings while allowing six hits and one earned run. Kelly is 12-4 for the season. Margaret Farris (King’s Fork) is a freshman first baseman for the Captains. Farris has seen action in 19 games this season.
CNU (35-5) advances to the NCAA Div. III Tournament which opens on May 7.
Fayetteville State reached the championship game of the CIAA (Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association) softball tournament on Saturday, but fell 9-1 to Bowie State in the final.
FSU went 3-2 in the tournament to finish the season 26-25 overall. Freshman outfielder LaTonia Gatling (King’s Fork) was FSU’s leadoff hitter in all five tourney games. Gatling went 5 for 15 at the plate and scored three runs. Gatling hit .287 in 40 games played for the Broncos, totaling 31 runs, 15 walks and 10 stolen bases.
Randolph College freshman shortstop Leigh Sexton (King’s Fork) is hitting .286 in 26 games played for the Wildcats’ softball squad (19-13, 8-10 ODAC) this spring.
Sexton has totaled 22 runs and six doubles. Defensively, Sexton has a .980 fielding percentage with two errors for the season at shortstop.
The Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament opens on Friday in Salem.
Radford’s baseball team swept three games against Virginia Military over the weekend and the Highlanders have won five of their last six games overall.
Junior outfielder Tyren Rivers (Nansemond River) went 4 for 11 at the plate with five runs, a triple and two RBI against the Keydets. For the season, Rivers is hitting .261 with three homers, 23 RBI and 13 stolen bases.
Radford (19-15, 10-6 Big South) has a three-game conference series at Charleston Southern this weekend.
With a six-run ninth-inning comeback, William and Mary defeated Virginia Tech 14-10 on the baseball diamond in Blacksburg on Tuesday night.
Freshman Matt Davenport (Nansemond-Suffolk) improved to 5-1 this season on the mound by pitching the final three innings for the Tribe (17-20, 6-9 Colonial). Davenport gave up three hits and a walk while holding VT scoreless. After W&M’s ninth-inning rally, Davenport struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth.
W&M plays at three-game set at Old Dominion (16-21, 8-7 Colonial) on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
N.C. State senior Lauren Doughtie (Nansemond-Suffolk) finished fifth individually in the ACC Women’s Golf Championship Apr. 17-19 at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C. Doughtie shot rounds of 74-71-74 to finish six-over par.
The Wolfpack finished fourth as a team. Wake Forest won the tournament by 24 shots over second-place North Carolina.
Virginia Military’s men’s track and field team placed second in the Big South Conference at the conference meet this past weekend. It was the highest finish for a VMI track team since joining the Big South.
Sophomore James Alexander (King’s Fork) competed in six events for the Keydets. Alexander finished fifth in the 100-meter dash (10.85 seconds) and fifth in the 200 meters (21.68) as well as being on VMI’s 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams.