Staff report
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee’s softball team, ranked eighth, won a regional on Sunday as the host team.
The Vols (45-10) beat Virginia 5-1 in the championship game.
Sophomore Emma Clarke (West Rowan) is one of the key bats in the lineup for Tennessee. She has hit 12 homers and is tied for the team lead.
Clarke is batting .276 with 10 doubles and 33 RBIs. She’s walked 20 times to boost her OBP to .374.
Next for Tennessee is a Super Regional, a best-of-three series against Georgia. That series will be played in Knoxville, starting on Thursday.
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UNC Greensboro, the Southern Conference regular season and tournament champ, has finished a 43-19 season.
The Spartans played in the regional at Georgia and won 1-0 against Clemson in the opening round. Senior Kaylyn Belfield (A.L. Brown) played a role in that run as her sacrifice bunt in the first inning moved the runner to second base.
UNCG lost 8-0 early Saturday to Georgia despite a great catch in center field by Belfield, who made the grab with her back to the plate while running toward the fence.
Then the Spartans lost 4-1 to Clemson in an elimination game on Saturday night.
Belfield batted .362 for the season with 71 hits and 53 runs scored.
