From staff reports
Lander freshman Billy Veal (North Rowan) blanked Coker for 4 1/3 innings in a strong relief outing as the Bearcats won 7-3 on Saturday.
Veal (2-0) allowed one hit and struck out one. Veal entered the game in the fifth with a 4-3 lead and runners on base. He walked the first batter he faced before getting the third out of the inning on a liner back to the mound.
Veal was untouchable the rest of the game and got credit for the win.
* Freshman pitcher Alex Britt (Salisbury) has been a big hit at Mars Hill.
Britt (2-0) pitched the Lions (4-1) to an 8-3 victory against Salem International on Sunday.
Britt tossed six innings and allowed eight hits and three runs. He struck out four and walked one.
– College basketball
Catawba’s men play Carson-Newman tonight at home at 6 p.m. in a makeup of the game that was postponed earlier this season because of a problem with a leaky roof.
Catawba (13-7, 5-4) has lost four straight SAC games, but the Indians are still only one game out of first place in the loss column with a long way to go.
Carson-Newman (6-14, 3-6 SAC) has also struggled of late. The Eagles were blown out by Mars Hill Saturday and haven’t won a road game all season.
* Livingstone’s men pulled out a 78-76 overtime decision against Lincoln on Saturday night.
Santonio Springs had 18 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Blue Bears (10-11). Greg Henry had 13 points. Point guard Tayloe Taylor played all 45 minutes, scored 15 points, registered seven assists and took care of the basketball. LC committed only nine turnovers.
Jabyron Wilson scored 25 points for Lincoln.
– College women’s hoops
Livingstone’s women survived 20 missed free throws and beat Lincoln 71-65 Saturday night at Trent Gym.
Cassaundra Rhodes had 16 points for the Blue Bears, while Elicia Gilliam scored 11.
Chelsea Johnson dished out seven assists.
Sharay DuBose scored 22 points for Lincoln.
* Shayla Fields (Salisbury) scored 14 points for N.C. State in a 67-54 loss against Georgia Tech on Sunday.
* Brittany Cornelius (East Rowan) scored 21 points for Meredith in a 78-55 loss to Christopher Newport on Sunday.
– College golf
Pfeiffer’s women placed fourth in the Kiawah Island Intercollegiate.
Florida Southern won the event.
Lina Elmsater led Pfeiffer. She shot 76-68 ó 146 for fifth.
– College softball
Catawba opened with a split on Saturday, losing to Coker 2-0 and bouncing back to win the nightcap 5-2.
Kathryn Geouge had two hits for the Indians in the opener.
Callie Gordy went 2-for-2 with two RBIs in the second game. Alli Justice also had two hits, and Jamie Wells pitched a complete game.
* Junior center fielder Lindsey Barrier (East Rowan) went 2-for-4 with four RBIs for Mars Hill in a 6-5 loss to Lander on Saturday.
* Maryland’s Devon Williams (West Rowan) had a hit and a walk in a 4-0 loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday.
* Pfeiffer split with Chowan on Sunday, winning 2-1 and losing 11-7.
– Prep basketball
There’s a full round of NPC basketball tonight.
That’s unusual for a Monday, but teams are playing tonight and Wednesday to close out the regular season.
Friday has been set aside for the 7-10 and 8-9 play-in games for spots in the eight-team conference tournament.
Carson’s girls know they will be part of Friday’s play-in action, while the Carson and East Rowan boys are trying to avoid that fate. West Rowan’s girls are tied for sixth with Mooresville and are on the bubble.
Carson and East are tied for sixth in the boys race with 6-10 league records. The NPC gets six berths in the state playoffs so no rocket science is required to determine that tonight’s game is a huge one for both programs. It will be a season-changer for the winner and the loser.
Carson, which is seeking to make the state playoffs for the first time, rolled 74-51 behind Darius Moose when the teams met in the Christmas tournament, but Daniel Plummer guided East to a 62-50 win in the league game played at Carson.
If East wins tonight, it will clinch sixth place because it will have a sweep of the Cougars in league games. East will own the NPC’s priority tiebreaker ó head-to-head ó even if Carson wins its game on Wednesday while East loses and both finish at 7-11.
However, a Carson win tonight would give the Cougars a split in the NPC meetings, and the Cougars’ win over the Mustangs in the Christmas tournament would then come into play as a potential tiebreaker for the sixth seed for the tournament.
* West Rowan’s girls had won 17 in a row against Mooresville before they fell to the Blue Devils 50-49 on Saturday.
The Falcons may have to win both games this week to make the playoffs. They play ninth-place Northwest Cabarrus at home tonight and go to North Iredell on Wednesday.
A lot is still up in the air with several girls teams because eighth-place North Iredell isn’t out of it and has games remaining against both Mooresville and West Rowan.
West Rowan and Mooresville are 6-10 and still aspire to tie West Iredell (8-8) for fifth. The Warrior girls will be underdogs against Lake Norman and East Rowan.
– Nationwide golf
Salisbury native Tripp Isenhour tied for 29th at the Panama Digicel Championship tournament over the weekend.
Isenhour shot 69-72-72-69 ó 282.
– DCDS hoops
Davidson Country Day’s middle school boys beat St. John’s of Winston-Salem 60-41.
Conor Honeycutt and Kenrick Jobe scored 11 points each for the Diamondbacks (15-12), while Tim Burges and Celexus Long had 10 each. Marshall Woods led the defensive effort.
* The DCDS girls topped St. John’s 35-19. Rachel Dilley, Jo Jo Chavis and Rebecca Cope led the Diamondbacks.