From staff reports

Medalist Nick Lyerly shot 68 Friday and led East Rowan to a tie for first place in the first round of the Palmetto Golf  Championship in Myrtle Beach.

Bryson Sprinkle shot 73 and is tied for fourth. Logan Shuping shot 78,  Jacob Durham shot 84, and Ben Rollins shot 85.

The Mustangs shot 303 (top four scores) and are tied with Edmond North High of Oklahoma.

Providence Day is one stroke back of the leaders. Three teams are three shots back at 306.

Edmond North led the qualifying round with a 300, while East Rowan shot 308 in qualifying for the Championship Flight.

Davie’s Wesley Sink shot 74 Friday. Davie is in 12th place at 317.

Local golf

Salisbury’s Frank Adams III has shot 71-74-71 — 216 and is even par after three rounds in the eGolf Tour’s Championship at St. James Plantation.

Adams is tied for 14th.

College baseball

Will Albertson’s amazing assault on SAC pitching continued Friday, but Catawba was outslugged 14-9 by Wingate at Newman Park.

Catawba hit four homers, with Albertson belting his 17th and 18th of the season. Craig Brooks and Kyle Smith also connected.

Albertson went 3-for-5 to push his batting average over .500.  Albertson hit a three-run homer in the sixth and a two-run homer in the eighth as the Indians tried to rally from a huge deficit.

Blake Houston (South Rowan) scored three runs for the Indians. Houston, Brooks and Bryce Fowler had two hits each.

Catawba pitchers struggled against the Bulldogs, and coach Jim Gantt used 10 different hurlers.

Shaefer Shepard (7-2) started and allowed six runs, four earned. He was knocked out in the third.

Josh Clark and Michael Godinez homered to lead a  15-hit attack by the Bulldogs. Thomas Spitz had three hits.

The Indians had 12 hits.

Chance Bowden’s 17-game hitting streak ended, but the former Salisbury slugger is still batting .324.

Catawba (28-7, 17-4) is still in first place but is only game ahead of Tusculum in the SAC standings.The Indians will look to bounce back Saturday in a 3 p.m. doubleheader against Wingate (22-13, 13-12) at Newman Park.

• In UNC Wilmington’s 17-5 win against UNC Asheville on Thursday, Andy Austin (East Rowan) had three hits and drove  in four runs.

• In Appalachian State’s  6-3 loss to Troy on Friday, Noah Holmes (East Rowan) had two hits. Brian Bauk (Salisbury) went 1-for-3 and had two sac bunts.

Holmes is batting .300 with three homers and 11 RBIs.

College softball

Catawba’s softball team had a great Friday, sweeping 21st-ranked  Anderson, one of the SAC’s top teams, in a doubleheader at Whitley Field.

Catawba  (19-13, 8-6) won the opener 1-0 behind Carley Tysinger’s two-hitter and eight strikeouts. Kristen Stinnard drove in the only run in the seventh.

In a 7-2 win in the nightcap, Tysinger (15-7) fanned eight more and threw another complete game.

Delane Smith homered for Catawba. Natalie Naturile had two hits and scored twice.

Pro baseball

Pitcher Chris Dula (Catawba) has been assigned to the Hickory Crawdads of the  Class A South Atlantic League by the Texas Rangers.

• Jerry Sands (Catwaba) had a strong spring but will start the season with Cleveland’s Triple-A team, the Columbus Clippers.

College track

Lees-McRae’s Cody McNeely (West Rowan) ran 4:15.68 in the 1500 meters in a meet hosted by High Point on Friday.