From staff and wire reports

AIKEN, S.C. — Catawba’s baseball team won at USC Aiken on Monday, 8-4, in non-conference action.

Sawyer Strickland (7-2) relieved starter Bryan Ketchie in the fifth and got the win. Jacob Nester drove in three runs for the Indians (37-12). Henderson Lentz had three hits. Lee Poteat had two RBIs. Bryce Butler had three steals and scored two runs.

Catawba plays again tonight at Winston-Salem State.

Catawba’s first game in the double-elimination SAC tourney in Kodak, Tenn., will be on Friday. Seeded third, Catawba will take on No. 4 Tusculum.

Catawba softball

Catawba was tied for first in the wide-open South Atlantic Conference race not long ago, but 8-5 and 3-1 losses to Lincoln Memorial on Senior Day sent the Indians (22-21, 9-11) plunging into a tie for ninth place on the final day of the season.

Only the top eight make the SAC tournament. The tournament will start Friday at Whitley Field, but the Indians won’t be in it.

Catawba got a two-run single from Taylor Martin in the first-game loss and came back from a 6-0 deficit to get as close as 6-5.

Jordan Dean homered and Brooke Walser pitched a determined complete game for the Indians in the nightcap.

Careers ended for Cataba seniors Leah Huggins, Sierrah McCarthy and Beth Ann Martin.

Friday’s tournament games

Game 1 – #4 Newberry vs. #5 Anderson, 9 a.m.             

Game 2 – #1 Lincoln Memorial vs. #8 Lenoir-Rhyne, 11:30 a.m.      

Game 3 – #2 Wingate vs. #7 Coker, 2 p.m.         

Game 4 – #3 Carson-Newman vs. #6 Queens, 4:30 p.m.

Easter baseball

In the Intimidators Invitational in Kannapolis on Monday:

Marshall Raper drove in four runs to lead Robinson to a 16-6 romp against Mount Pleasant.

• Michael Sumner knocked in four runs in Lake Norman’s 10-5 win against Weddington.

• A.L. Brown fell 7-1 to Piedmont.

Tuesday’s games

Game 5 — Mount Pleasant vs. Weddington, 11 a.m.

Game 6 — A.L. Brown vs. NW Cabarrus, 1:30 p.m.

Game 7 —Robinson vs. Lake Norman, 4 p.m. (semifinal)

Game 8 — Piedmont vs. Carson (semifinal), 6:30 p.m.

In East Rowan’s Easter tournament on Monday in Granite Quarry:

• Evan McGee blasted four hits, including two triples, and was the winning pitcher as Central Cabarrus rolled 15-3 over Forest Hills.

•Nolan DeVos homered, drove in three runs and was the winning pitcher as Hickory Ridge beat Cox Mill 7-1 in a semifinal.

Tuesday’s games

Game 9 — West Iredell vs. Forest Hills, 10 a.m. (7th place)

Game 10 — Cox Mill vs. West Stanly, 1 p.m. (3rd place)

Game 11 — West Rowan vs. Central Cabarrus, 4 p.m. (5th place)

Game 12 — Hickory Ridge vs. East Rowan, 7 p.m. (championship)

Intimidators

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Gunnar Troutwine hit a three-run home run in the first inning, leading the Kannapolis Intimidators to a 7-1 win over the Charleston RiverDogs on Monday.

The home run by Troutwine scored Luis Alexander Basabe and Steele Walker to give the Intimidators a 3-0 lead.

After Kannapolis added a run in the second on a single by Ian Dawkins, the RiverDogs cut into the deficit in the second inning when Eric Wagaman hit a solo home run.

Kannapolis right-hander Jonathan Stiever (1-2) picked up a quality start and the win after allowing one run on five hits over six innings. Opposing starter Alexander Vizcaino (1-1) took the loss in the South Atlantic League game after giving up four runs and five hits over 4 2/3 innings.

College golf

PINEHURST — UNC Greensboro men’s golf leads the Southern Conference Championships after two days by four strokes.

The third round will be held today.

Sophomore Nick Lyerly (East Rowan) has shot 69-69 and is 6-under. He’s in first place. Lyerly made six birdies on Monday.

Lyerly is attempting to become just the eighth player to win back-to-back Southern Conference individual championships.

Men’s lacrosse

Catawba is seeded second in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament and has a first-round bye.

Catawba will play on Friday at 7 p.m. at Wingate. The Indians will be taking on the winner of Tuesday’s Queens-Tusculum game.

Women’s lacrosse

Catawba is seeded fourth in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament and hosts fifth-seeded Wingate  in a first-round matchup today at 4 p.m.

Women’s track & field

Host Lenoir-Rhyne won the two-day South Atlantic Conference  Championships by a wide margin over second-place Queens.

L-R’s Jocelyn Lowe (East Rowan) was sixth in the hammer throw and seventh in the javelin.

Catawba finished eighth.

Men’s track & field

Queens rolled in the  South Atlantic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships held in Hickory.

Catawba finished sixth.

•••

The Southern Conference Championships will be held Saturday in Birmingham, Ala.

Sprinters Devaniel Dale (East Rowan) and Josh Little (East Rowan) are part of the Western Carolina team, along with runner Jordan Bostian (West Rowan).

Bostian won the 1500 in the recent Catamount Classic in 4:02.07 and was fourth in the 800 at 1:57.34.

Dale took second in the 200 in 21.32 seconds, while Little was seventh in the 100 in 11.16.

High school softball

The second annual Salisbury Civitan Tournament starts on Thursday at Salisbury Community Park on fields 1 and 3.

Teams have been divided into pools: Blue (Cox Mill, East Rowan and West Rowan) and Red (Carson, Central Cabarrus and Salisbury).

In 5 p.m. games, Cox Mill plays West Rowan and Central Cabarrus takes on Carson.

In 7 p.m. games, Cox Mill plays Carson, while West Rowan plays East Rowan.

A home run derby is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Friday.

On Friday at 3, Central Cabarrus plays East Rowan.

At 5 p.m, Salisbury will play the No. 3 Blue team and the No. 2 teams play each other.

At 7 p.m., the pool winners play for the championship.