From staff reports
Catawba’s baseball team was swept in a doubleheader by Lander on Sunday at Newman Park.
Gabe McCann drove in three runs in each game for the Bearcats, who won 10-8 and 6-5.
Seventh-ranked Catawba (3-3) couldn’t hold a 7-0 lead in the first game. Trevor Mullins shut out the Bearcats (8-2) for four innings, but a five-run seventh that included a three-run homer by Devin Ridlehoover got Lander back in the game.
Lander scored five more runs in the eighth on key hits by Ridlehoover and McCann.
Craige Lyerly (East Rowan) and Ryan Query (A.L. Brown) hit two-run homers for the Indians in the fourth. Chris Ahearn had a two-run single.
Kevin McMillan (North Rowan) had a two-run double for Catawba in the nightcap. Greg Lawson hit a pinch-hit homer.
Bud Lanier’s grand slam in the fifth was the big blow for Lander. He had seven RBIs in the game.
* Zach Glass (Salisbury) hit a two-run homer as Lenoir-Rhyne (8-4) finished off a sweep of Charleston on Sunday.
* Rudy Brown (South) pitched a scoreless inning and Matt Ingold (South) scored a run for UNC Pembroke (7-2) in Sunday’s 14-2 romp over Millersville.
* Division I schools begin play on Feb. 20. Charlotte (East Rowan’s Justin Roland and Ross Steedley) opens at Clemson. Wake Forest (East’s Micah Jarrett) is home against Akron. Belmont (South’s Daniel Wagner) plays host to Illinois State. N.C. State (West Rowan’s Wade Moore) opens against Rhode Island. UNC (NW Cabarrus’ Kyle Seager) is home against VMI. Appalachian State (NWC’s Jerod Faggart) plays Jacksonville State at Forest City. South Carolina (Davie’s Whit Merrifield) starts Feb. 21 against Duquesne.
– College indoor track
Appalachian State’s Mark Sturgis (North Rowan) won the 55-meter dash in 6.49 seconds in the Valentine’s Open in Boone. Sturgis was second in the 300 meters (35.99).
* ASU’s Phillip Bush (North) was second in the 55-meter hurdles in 7.84 and 10th in the 55 meters (6.72).
* Charlotte pole vaulter Makenzie Mullinax (South Rowan) cleared 10 feet, 103/4 inches at Clemson’s Tiger Paw Invitational and placed 14th.
– Men’s college hoops
Wesley Honeycutt (South Rowan) hit three straight 3s during a second-half rally by Davidson Community College, but the Storm fell to Caldwell Community College 99-81.
– College swimming
Catawba men’s and women’s teams finished eighth at the Bluegrass Mountain Conference Swimming Championships at Mecklenburg Aquatic Center.
Patrick Drakes was under the “B” cut time in the 200 breast, qualifying for his second event in the D-II Championships. He set a school record in 2:09.46.
Drakes was involved with a second record Saturday as he was a member of the 400 free relay team that posted a time of 3:15.06. Joining him on the relay team were Alex Walpole, Patrick Novak and Yakir Malul.
Katie Huff (North Stanly) set another school record for the women, this time in the 200 breast. She was eighth in 2:30.15.
– College tennis
Catawba’s tennis teams beat Winston-Salem State Saturday but lost to N.C. Central.
– Prep basketball
The CCC and NPC tournaments start tonight.
Salisbury’s top-seeded boys take a 23-game winning streak into a 7 p.m. home game against West Davidson. North Rowan’s boys are at Lexington at 7 p.m. A loss would end North’s season.
In the NPC, West Rowan’s boys, No. 1 seed for the tournament after winning a draw with Lake Norman, are home against No. 9 seed Statesville at 7 p.m.
Carson’s sixth-seeded boys are at Northwest Cabarrus for a 6 p.m. game. The Cougars are in the 3A state playoffs for the first time unless Statesville or North Iredell wins the tournament.
South Rowan and Mooresville will play a girls-boys doubleheader at South, starting at 6 p.m.
West Rowan’s girls play at Lake Norman at 6. West has to win the tourney to make the playoffs. The Lake Norman-North Iredell boys game will follow.