Salem hosts EBC Meet today

SALEM — Salem will host the seventh Eastern Buckeye Conference Track and Field Meet today.

Action starts at 4:30 p.m. with the boys discus and high jump, girls shot put and long jump and girls and boys 3200-meter relay. The rest of the running events will begin at 5:15 p.m.

Last year, the Minerva boys won their first league title in 45 years, while the Marlington girls captured their first since 2006.

This is the last meet Salem is hosting this year.

EOAC Meet in East Palestine

EAST PALESTINE — The eighth Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference Track and Field Meet will be held Saturday at Reid Stadium.

The field events and the 3200-meter relay finals will start at 10 a.m. The rest of the running events will begin after 11 a.m. as timed finals.

The Columbiana boys and girls have swept the team titles the past two years.

Mercer leads Mount Union softball

ALLIANCE — First baseman Sydney Mercer 3-for-4 with a triple and a double as the 12th-ranked Mount Union softball team defeated Lebanon Valley (Pa.), 7-2, in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Thursday.

Mercer, a former West Branch High School standout, also scored two runs and drove in another.

Second baseman Allison Jones from Western Reserve went 1-for-2 with a run and shortstop Lydia Brunner from Minerva was 0-for-3.

Mount Union (30-6) advance to the regional semifinal game against Christopher Newport (29-11) at 11 a.m. today in Alliance.

Mount Union baseball opens NCAA tourney

ALLIANCE — The Mount Union baseball team has earned one of 23 NCAA at-large bids to the 64-team NCAA Division III tournament.

The Purple Raiders (31-10) will travel to Salisbury, Maryland, to play the Hobart Statesmen (30-13) at 1:30 p.m. Friday.

Two area graduates are on the Mount Union roster — sophomore outfielder Aaron Tucker from West Branch and junior pitcher Nevin Hahlen from United.

Tucker has played in 31 games with 26 starts. He has 18 hits with 16 RBIs and 16 runs scored.

Hahlen pitched one inning, giving up one run with one strikeout.

Crowded leaderboard at PGA Championship

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. (AP) –The biggest logjam in 57 years after the opening round of a major championship still had one name that stood out above the rest: Scottie Scheffler handled everything Aronimink threw his way Thursday in the PGA Championship.

Joining Scheffler at 67 were Martin Kaymer, Aldrich Potgieter, Stephan Jaeger, Min Woo Lee, Ryo Hisatsune and Alex Smalley. The seven-way tie was the largest since nine players shared the lead in the 1969 PGA Championship at NCR Country Club near Dayton, Ohio.