SEC-S CAROLINA-MISSOURI
Missouri tops South Carolina 5-1 in SEC tournament
HOOVER, Ala. (AP) β Reggie McClain threw seven impressive innings to lead Missouri past South Carolina 5-1 on Tuesday in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference tournament.
The seventh-seeded Tigers (30-26) face No. 2 Vanderbilt on Wednesday when the tournament moves to a double-elimination format. South Carolina (32-25) is eliminated and now in serious danger of missing the NCAA tournament for the first time in 16 years.
Missouri jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning and had 11 hits on the day. Trey Harris led the Tigers with three hits. McClain (7-7) gave up just one run on six hits while striking out four.
Brecklin Williams threw two scoreless innings of relief for his 13th save.
South Carolina’s Jack Wynkoop (8-5) gave up four runs over seven innings. The Gamecocks’ Gene Cone had two hits.
ACC-VIRGINIA TECH-NORTH CAROLINA
North Carolina beats Virginia Tech 5-3 in ACC tournament
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) β Skye Bolt drove in two runs while starter Zac Gallen pitched into the seventh inning to help North Carolina beat Virginia Tech 5-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament.
Gallen (4-3) allowed two runs in 6 2-3 innings for the eighth-seeded Tar Heels (33-22), who advanced to pool play. UNC had lost six straight against league opponents, but went ahead for good with a three-run fourth inning that included Bolt’s RBI sacrifice fly as well as RBI singles from Logan Warmoth and Zack Gahagan.
The ninth-seeded Hokies (27-27) got the tying run aboard in the ninth, but reliever Trevor Kelley earned the save by forcing Brendon Hayden to ground out to end it.
Kit Scheetz (3-4) took the loss, allowing six hits and three unearned runs in four innings. Saige Jenco led the Hokies with three hits.
UNC faces top-seeded Louisville in Wednesday’s Pool A play.
NASCAR-DAVIS
Panthers LB Davis takes 5-lap spin with Earnhardt Jr.
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) β Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis says not a lot scares him, so he was comfortable going a few laps around Charlotte Motor Speedway at 165 mph with NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year was selected to be the honorary pace car driver for the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday.
On Tuesday, he got a chance to test out the pace car on the one-and-a-half mile racetrack before jumping in a stock car with Earnhardt, who took him on five high-speed laps around the track.
Davis says the experience was “an adrenaline rush.”
The 10-year NFL veteran Davis spent his time filming from the passenger seat so he could show his kids. He later posted the event on social media for his fans to see.
CHASTAIN-PENALTY
Chastain’s No. 4 Xfinity team penalized after Iowa incident
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) β The No. 4 NASCAR Xfinity Series car driven by Ross Chastain at Iowa has been penalized following a scary incident during practice last week.
Crew chief Gary Cogswell has been fined $15,000 because a weight flew off of Chastain’s JD Motorsports car on Saturday. The ballast crushed the window of Jamie Dick, who was behind Chastain, and struck Dick in the helmet.
Cogswell and crew chief Charles Kent were also put on probation through the end of the year.
Chastain finished Sunday’s race in 32nd place.
LENOIR-RHYNE-ODOM
Lenoir-Rhyne hires Ryan Odom as men’s hoops coach
HICKORY, N.C. (AP) β Lenoir-Rhyne has hired Ryan Odom as its men’s basketball coach.
The school announced Odom’s hiring Tuesday.
Odom is the son of former Wake Forest and South Carolina coach Dave Odom. He took over as interim head coach at Charlotte on Jan. 6 after Alan Major took a leave of absence, and spent five total seasons on the 49ers’ staff but was not retained by new coach Mark Price.
He replaces John Lentz, who retired last month after 29 seasons.
NORTH CAROLINA-AGENTS PROBE
Ex-player charged in NC agent probe free on reduced bond
HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. (AP) β A former college football player is free on a reduced bond after being charged with violating North Carolina’s sports agent law that bars illegally luring collegiate athletes into contracts.
Christopher Hawkins was being held on a $300,000 secured bond after last week’s arrest, but court documents say it was reduced Monday to $5,000.
Orange County assistant district attorney Jeff Nieman said Tuesday that attorneys from both sides agreed to the reduction provided Hawkins meets requirements such as maintaining contact with his probation officer and staying in the state.
The former UNC and Marshall defensive back faces four charges, including providing $13,700 to former Tar Heel defensive end Robert Quinn, now with the St. Louis Rams.
Five people are facing charges in the nearly 5-year-old investigation by the Secretary of State’s office.
