From staffand wire reports

Carson’s baseball team won 3-1 at Cox Mill on Friday night and tied with East Rowan for second place in the 3A South Piedmont Conference.

Michael Morrison and  Owen White led Carson (15-8, 10-6 SPC).

Morrison was the catalyst offensively for the Cougars. He scored twice, stole two bases and had a double. Heath Mitchem. Matt Saul and Brandon Mock had a hit each for the Cougars.

White pitched into the sixth inning in a duel with Cox Mill senior Julian Smith.

White allowed seven hits  and one walk and struck out five.

Morrison walked and scored in the first inning on a sac fly by Matt Saul.

After Cox Mill tied the game 1-all in the second, Carson reclaimed the lead when Morrison doubled, stole third and scored on a wild pitch in the third.

Saul’s infield hit, Kris Peacock’s bunt and Brandon Mock’s single gave the Cougars a 3-1 lead in the sixth.

Mitchem earned a save. He relieved in the sixth  and he got the final out of the game  with two men on base in the seventh.

Carson is expected to be  No. 2 seed in the SPC  tournament. That would mean a home game against No. 7 Concord in the first round on Monday.

Carson and East Rowan  (also 10-6) split their meetings. Carson owns a win over No. 1 seed West Rowan while East Rowan was swept by the Falcons. That should give the Carson the No. 2 seed for the tournament, with No. 3 East Rowan entertaining No. 6 Hickory Ridge on Monday.

The SPC will finalize seeds and pairings at Saturday’s conference meeting.

• North Rowan routed Thomasville 15-0 in CCC baseball.

The Cavaliers finished 6-4 in the league and tied  Salisbury for third. North Rowan will be seeded third for next week’s tournament  by virtue of a sweep of the Hornets.

• The Greater Cabarrus Stallions finished sixth out 22 teams at the Homeschool World Series in Auburndale.Fla.

The Stallions defeated Dallas 14-0 on Friday  and then lost to Wake County 8-1 in the afternoon.

In the 14-0 win The Stallions (23-7)  were led in hitting by Hunter Shepherd with two hits, a three-run homer and six RBIs.

Noah Jarrett and McConner Wallace had three hits. Caleb Threadgill had  two hits.  Jarrett tossed a two- hitter to get the win with Tyler Hartsell tossing one inning in relief.

In the 8-1 loss, the Stalllions were led by  Wallace with two  hits.

The Stallions play at 5 p.m. game against High Point Christian on Tuesday.

Catawba baseball

A sacrifice fly by T.J. Wharton  in the top of the 12th inning helped ninth-ranked Catawba win 3-2 at USC Aiken on Friday night at Hernandez Stadium. The win improves the Catawba Indians to 39-12, while the Pacers fall to 33-15.

USC Aiken battled back from a 2-0 deficit with single runs in the eighth and ninth to force extra innings.

In the 12th, Emmitt Carden was hit by a pitch to start the inning and went to second on a passed ball. Bryan Blanton sacrificed him to third where he scored on a fly ball to center by Wharton.

The Pacers got wo singles to start the bottom of the 12th then Blanton (2-2)  came back with a pair of strikeouts. Following a walk to Chaz Pal, Blanton got Ty Barkell to fly out to center to end the game.

Both starters were electric and combined for 25 strikeouts. Craig Brooks   pitched into the eighth and allowed a run on seven hits with five walks and a dozen strikeouts for the Indians.

Catawba broke a scoreless tie in the sixth.  Blake Houston (South Rowan) singled with two outs. Kyle Smith followed with a two-run homer.

Dylan Richardson  had two of Catawba’s six hits.

• Jacob Barber (Davie) went 3-for-3 and drove in two runs as Winston-Salem State won 8-4 against Virginia Sate on Saturday in the CIAA tournament in Cary.

Intimidators

The Rome Braves won  3-1 over the Kannapolis Intimidators on Friday night in front of 3,974 fans at CMC-NorthEast Stadium.

Kannapolis (9-12) dropped its series opener against Rome despite a quality start from pitcher Thad Lowry.

Lowry (3-1) matched his career-high with six strikeouts over  six innings but suffered the loss despite allowing just two runs on four hits.  He walked a season-high four batters on the night.

Before and after the game, hundreds of students from Cabarrus County Schools paraded around the field as part of the Intimidators second annual Reading All-Stars Celebration, which rewards students in area school districts for their achievements and improvements in reading and literacy.

The Intimidators continue the four-game series on Saturday against the Rome Braves at 7:05 p.m.  Following Saturday’s game, fans can stick around for a fantastic fireworks display.

Prep softball

Salisbury took third place in the CCC with an 18-5 win against North Rowan.

Michaela Lemmon had four hits for the Hornets.

Kate Murph had three hits, while Caroline Forbis,  Katy Wolfe, Tamika Gatewood and Calissa Anderson had two each.

• Central Cabarrus beat Northwest Cabarrus 4-3 on  Friday.

The win knocked the Trojans out of a tie for first  and made West Rowan the outright SPC champs for the second straight season.

• Caroline Hubbard had a big offensive game as South Rowan won 5-0 against East Rowan on Senior Night.

• Cox Mill won 6-5 against Carson. Carson tied for third in the SPC  with Central Cabarrus with a 9-7 mark.

Prep soccer

Erin Ansbro and Annie Habeeb scored two goals each as Gray Stone romped 9-0 against West Stanly on Friday.

Local golf

In the eGolf Tour’s Forest Oaks Classic in Greensboro, Salisbury’s Frank Adams III is tied for 13th after three rounds.

Adams has shot 67-69-74 — 210 and is 6-under.

Mid. school baseball

Southeast won three games during the week, beating North Rowan 10-7, topping Knox 13-2, and rolling 12-0 against Erwin.

Luke Barringer hit two homers and has six for the season. Daniel Durham went 9-for-12 for the week. Cole Hales went 6-for-11, and Max Blackledge was 5-for-9.

Catawba lacrosse

The Catawba men’s lacrosse fell to NCAA II second-ranked Limestone 20-5 in its season finale on Friday night at Saints Field.

The Indians ended their campaign at 5-10.

Golf

SAN FRANCISCO  — Rory McIlroy kept some star power in the Match Play Championship on Friday by winning the last two holes with birdies to force overtime and then beating old foe Billy Horschel on the second extra hole to make it to the weekend.

Masters champion Jordan Spieth wasn’t so fortunate. All square in a match with Lee Westwood that featured chip-ins for halves on consecutive holes, Westwood delivered the clutch shot with a 6-iron to 12 feet for birdie on the 17th, and Spieth failed to birdie the 18th.

With a new format, one element didn’t change about this fickle tournament. The top players didn’t make it to the weekend.

McIlroy (No. 1) and Jim Furyk (No. 5) were the only players in the top 10 who advanced to the round of 16 that starts a long weekend at TPC Harding Park.

Furyk had to go 20 holes to beat Martin Kaymer, and then he went one extra hole as a spectator with plenty at stake.

Furyk was only assured of winning his four-man group if George Coetzee beat Thongchai Jaidee. The South African won in 21 holes, and Furyk advanced because he beat Coetzee on Wednesday.

McIlroy only had to beat Horschel, whom he hadn’t faced in this format since their contentious battles in the Walker Cup in 2007 when both were young and prone to irritate each other with their celebrations.