From staff reports
Catawba’s baseball team routed Wingate 13-5 on Sunday to complete a weekend sweep of the Bulldogs.
The Indians (9-4, 5-1 SAC) have gotten a big boost by the return to the lineup of hard-hitting Chris Dula.
The sophomore had a two-run triple in the first inning and a grand slam in the second as Catawba jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead.
Garrett Furr hit a two-run homer, and Keaton Hawks had four hits and two RBIs. Dula and Furr had three hits each. Ryan Bostian (South Rowan) and Julio Zubillaga (Carson) scored two runs apiece. Ross Whitley (3-1) won his first start of the season.
Dodson McPherson scored four times for the Bulldogs (8-9, 0-6).
Catawba is still chasing Tusculum (15-0, 6-0) in the SAC race. The 23rd-ranked Pioneers beat Carson-Newman 5-4 to finish a weekend sweep.
Appalachian State rolled 11-1 at LSU on Sunday and won its weekend series with the seventh-ranked Tigers.
Rob Marcello pitched into the ninth inning for ASU.
ASU had 14 hits, including three by Daniel Kassouf and two by Trey Holmes (East Rowan).
ASU is at North Carolina A&T on Tuesday.
Justin Seager (NW Cabarrus) drove in a run as Charlotte edged Toledo 3-2 on Sunday.
Prep baseball
The prep baseball season gets starts this afternoon with Northwest Cabarrus playing at Carson and West Rowan hosting Mount Pleasant.
Prep soccer
The Rowan County girls soccer tournament begins today at West Rowan.
East Rowan plays North Rowan at 5 p.m., and South Rowan takes on Carson at 7 p.m. Semifinals will be at West on Wednesday.
Prep softball
The prep softball season gets under way today with South Rowan playing at Concord and Carson hosting Northwest Cabarrus.
Prep golf
The boys golf season is scheduled to open today with Salisbury battling West Rowan at Rolling Hills.
Prep tennis
The boys tennis season gets under way today with some early NPC matchups.
Statesville is at West Rowan, Carson plays at East Rowan and South Rowan is at West Iredell.
Livingstone men
Livingstone’s men’s basketball team plays in the opening round of the CIAA tournament in Charlotte against Chowan.
Tipoff on Tuesday is at 7 p.m.
If the Blue Bears win, they would play on Wednesday at 7 p.m. against Virginia State.
See Scoreboard.
North Hills hoops
The North Hills varsity boys lost to eventual state champ Flora MacDonald Academy 62-38 in the quarterfinals of the NCISAA 1A State Tournament held in Raleigh.
Moussa Doucara had 16 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Eagles. Vismantas Marijosius and Nikolas Petruk scored seven points each, while Povilas Dombrauskas had six.
“I was proud of our effort until the end — we just ran into a big, athletic team,” North Hills coach Dadrian Cuthbertson said.
Quindar Davis scored 25 for Flora MacDonald and Anton Wilson had 18.
Women’s hoops
Freshman Ayanna Holmes (Salisbury) scored eight points as Charlotte beat Richmond 77-62 on Sunday.
Shi-Heria Shipp (Salisbury) had four points and four rebounds for George Washington in a 52-49 loss to St. Joseph’s on Sunday.
UNC Asheville’s Katie Wise (South Rowan) scored three points in a 79-67 loss to Radford on Saturday. Ayana Avery (West Rowan) scored two for Radford.
Tallahassee Community College’s Bubbles Phifer (Salisbury) scored 16 points on Saturday in a 71-57 loss to Pensacola State.
Phifer has been the Eagles’ leading scorer this season with 15.1 points per game and averages nearly three steals per game.
Shaw’s Shemieka Brown (North Rowan) had four points and seven rebounds as the Bears clinched the CIAA’s Southern Division title with a 90-51 romp against St. Augustine’s.
Fayetteville State’s DaQuondra Cuthbertson (North) had seven points and nine rebounds in an 80-55 loss to Winston-Salem State on Saturday.
Rashonda Mayfield (West) helped Voorhees win twice last week. She had eight points against Allen and 10 against Morris.
Mayfield is averaging 8.6 points this season.
Livingstone’s women’s team plays in the CIAA tourney against Virginia State at 11 a.m. on Tuesday at Charlotte’s Time Warner Arena.
Catawba softball
Catawba wrapped up play in the Catawba Invitational on Sunday with a 4-1 win against West Chester at Salisbury Community Park.
The Indians (12-5) got a strong pitching performance from Selena Ashley (2-0).
Rowan Hurricanes
The Rowan Hurricanes USBA girls teams competed in the Love & Basketball Tournament in High Point on Saturday. The Hurricanes 4th-grade team beat the Winston-Salem Stealers in the semifinals and finished second.
The Hurricanes 7th-grade team was led by Knox’s Kilantra Mashore, Tyzrea Alexander and Niah Spratt and finished fourth.
The Hurricanes return to action March 3-4 in the Mayberry Madness Tournament in Mt. Airy.