Spring Sports Update
Prairie View repeats as SWAC baseball champion
JACKSON, Miss. _ Prairie View
A&M defeated Southern 8-7 Saturday to finish off an unbeaten run through the
Southwestern Athletic Conference baseball tournament and successfully defended its 2006 title.
Southern would have needed two wins to dethrone the Panthers, who won earlier games over Southern (6-3), Jackson State (14-3) and Mississippi Valley State (10-0).
In the final game, Joshua Terrell got the win for the Panthers in relief of starter Wrandal Taylor who worked six innings giving up four hits and seven runs while striking out six. Terrell gave up two hits and no runs over two innings. Josh Lara struck out the side in the ninth to preserve the win.
The Panthers (34-23), who made up 4-0 and
7-4 deficits to pull out the win, finished with only five hits
but were aided by five Southern errors most caused by
the speed of the Prairie View team. Calvin
Lester, who was named the tournament's most outstanding player, led
the Panther offense, going 2-3 at the plate with a run and
two RBI.
Prairie View's Lester, Taylor and Odie Davis along with Southern's Victor Franklin, Brad McDavid, Michael Thomas and Joshua Kirk were all named to the 2007 SWAC All-Tournament Team.
Bethune-Cookman survives NC A&T, takes second straight MEAC baseball title
Bethune-Cookman scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth
to rally and defeat North Carolina A&T 6-4 to capture the 2007
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference baseball championship in the second
game of the championship series on Sunday at Marty L. Miller Baseball Field
in Norfolk, Va. The victory gave the Wildcats their 11th MEAC crown,
as well as back-to-back titles.
B-CU (33-25) had advanced to the championship round without a loss while N.C. A&T (28-31) made it to the final round despite suffering a 9-5 loss to Norfolk State early Saturday. The Aggies earned their spot in the final by defeating NSU, 6-0 Saturday evening.
A&T forced the title game with a 4-3 win in the first game between
the two on Sunday.
Second baseman Jose Almonte was 3-4 with two key RBIs in the deciding game to lead the Wildcats. Outfielder Angel Mercado collected tournament MVP honors for the Wildcats with a 9-for-17 hitting performance (.529) with five runs.
Both B-CU and SWAC champion Prairie View advance to the NCAA Div. I playoffs whose 64-team field will be announced on Monday, May 28 at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN.
MEAC, SWAC champs throttled in NCAA softball championships
Both MEAC champion Howard and
SWAC champ Mississippi Valley State suffered first day no-hitters and were held scoreless in
their respective regions in NCAA Championship softball play over the weekend.
Howard (35-21) was no-hit by Arizona during a 9-0 loss in its first game in the Tucson Regional that was called after five innings. The Lady Bison were later eliminated in a 13-0 five-inning loss to Pacific where they could muster just one hit.
Three DePaul pitchers combined to no-hit MVSU (29-28) in the Devilettes' 10-0 first game loss in the Carbondale (Ill.) Regional that went six innings. MVSU got six hits but no runs as it was eliminated by host Southern Illinois, 7-0.
Stillman goes down swinging in Div. II baseball South Regional
TAMPA, Fla.—SIAC champion Stillman
was eliminated from the NCAA Div. II baseball championships last week after suffering close
losses to defending national champion Tampa (5-3) and Florida Southern (8-7)
in the South Regional.
Three costly errors were part of the Tigers' undoing in the loss to Tampa Thursday. They gave up two unearned runs en route to falling behind 5-0. They rallied to score three runs in the eighth inning but it would not be enough. The Tigers got eight hits, while limiting Tampa to just seven behind the arms Joseph Woodley and Andrew Brown.
A bases-loaded single past a drawn-in infield in the bottom of the ninth inning scored the winning run for Florida Southern and eliminated Stillman Friday. The see-saw battle saw Stillman go up 6-4 after three innings and then come back to tie the game at 7 in the eighth.
"We certainly scored enough runs to win the game (Florida Southern) today, but we just didn't do a good job with defense and pitching," Stillman manager Donny Crawford said. "We had a chance to win both games down here against quality teams, but we didn't make the plays that we needed to when it counted the most. And that was the difference."
Virginia State, West Virginia State punchless in falling in Div. II Regionals
Kinston, N.C. _ CIAA baseball champion
Virginia State (22-33) could manage only one run in its two losses as the Trojans were
eliminated from the NCAA Div. II South Atlantic Regional here last week.
VSU had what is believed to be the first triple play in the history of the NCAA Div. II baseball championships but left 12 runners stranded as they fell to Mount Olive 6-1 in a first round game. The historic play came in the first inning with runners on first and second. Mt. Olive's Dustin Richardson's liner to right was caught by right fielder DeWayne White whose throw to second caught the runner off the bag as did the shortstop's throw to first.
The game turned on the pitching performance by two Mount Olive pitchers who scattered four hits and allowed VSU's only run on a bases-loaded walk in the seventh.
VSU was eliminated in a 14-0 loss to Columbus State Friday. CSU's Justin Lee tossed a complete-game seven-hit shutout for the Cougars.
KUTZTOWN, Pa. _ WVIAC champion and second seed West Virginia State (36-17) had its excellent season come to an end as they struggled to score in two losses at the NCAA Div. II North Atlantic Regional last week.
The Yellow Jackets were shut out 2-0 by West Chester senior Frank Gailey's two-hit masterpiece Thursday and then were held to four hits in a 6-1 loss to Shippensburg Friday.
WVSU ace Michael Barron (8-1) suffered his first loss of the season in the opener. Matt Wright struck out 11 Yellow Jackets and walked just one in the second game.
Johnson C. Smith hosting NCAA Div. II Track Championships
CHARLOTTE, NC _ Johnson C. Smith
University officials held an on-campus press conference Tuesday at the Irwin Belk Complex to
officially welcome the NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Outdoor
Track and Field Championships to the Queen City.
The championships, at JCSU's state-of-the-art Mondo track, run from Thursday May 24 thru Saturday, May 26, 2007.
This will be the first time that JCSU has hosted a national championship event. The meet is anticipated to bring more than 1,000 competitors and support staff to Charlotte. Six reigning women champions in seven events will be in competition this week along with ten reigning men champions in 12 events.
The festivities began with a banquet on Wednesday, May 23, and will conclude with the majority of final events on Saturday, May 26.
Tickets are available for the public at $5 per day or $12 for all three days. For more information, please call 704-378-1083.
© 2007 Azeez Communications, Inc.