Tennessee Titans final preseason game, Nolensville in Little League World Series earn solid TV ratings
Saturday was a big day for sports on television in Nashville with Nolensville playing in the Little League World Series U.S. Championship game and the Tennessee Titans playing the Arizona Cardinals in their final preseason game.
The Little League World Series game played in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, earned a 5.7 rating, according to WTVF-5 senior programming director Mark Binda.
That means 63,903 households in the Nashville market tuned in to see Nolensville lose 5-1 to Hawaii.
The Titans rallied to beat the Cardinals 26-23 at Nissan Stadium and the game earned an 11.7 rating (131,169 Nashville households).
The regular season begins on Sept. 11 when the Titans play the New York Giants at Nissan Stadium. The game kicks off at 3 p.m. and will be televised on Fox (Channel 17 locally).
Ratings for the Vanderbilt-Hawaii football game, which started at 9:30 p.m. that day, were unavailable.
Ex-UT, Vandy pitcher Ethan Smith transferring to Lipscomb
Pitcher Ethan Smith, who began his career at Vanderbilt before transferring to Tennessee, will spend his final season at Lipscomb. The former Mt. Juliet star announced his decision on Twitter.
He posted a 7.36 ERA at UT last season after pitching 3⅔ innings in six appearances.
In three seasons at Vanderbilt, Smith made 30 appearances, 17 which came in relief when he was a freshman. His career record was 8-0 with 88 strikeouts with the Commodores.
Channel 2's Emily Proud joins CBS 247Sports
Emily Proud, who spent the last four years as a sports and news anchor at WKRN-2, was hired by CBS Sports.
She is anchoring and hosting CBS 247Sports platforms with an emphasis on college football programming.
Proud, a native of Knoxville who played soccer at Belmont (2012-15), got her career start as Belmont’s men’s and women’s basketball sideline reporter for ESPN+, which led to her being the sideline reporter at the OVC basketball tournaments.
In 2017 she returned to Knoxville to work at WATE-TV before coming back to Nashville the following year.
In 2018, Proud was named one of the nation's "Top 30 Sportscasters Under 30" by the Sportscasters Talent Agency of America.
Belmont expands NIL possibilities for Bruins athletes
Belmont expanded its agreement with INFLCR, a company that assists college athletes with NIL business opportunities.
As part of the agreement Belmont launched the Bruin Local Exchange, a platform designed to connect national and local businesses with Belmont athletes to fulfill NIL agreements.
It means Belmont’s athletes now have the opportunity to take advantage of partnerships with companies like TikTok, WWE, Meta, Campus, DigSign, Mike Slive Foundation, Subtext and more as part of the INFLCR Global Exchange.
“Expanding our partnership with INFLCR reinforces our commitment to Belmont student-athletes within the NIL landscape,” said athletics director Scott Corley. “INFLCR’s industry-leading technology will benefit our student-athletes while elevating our branding and storytelling efforts as a university.”
Andrew Maraniss will sign 'Inaugural Ballers' at Parnassus Books
Local author Andrew Maraniss will sign his latest book "Inaugural Ballers" on Sept. 13 at Parnassus Books in Green Hills. The signing begins at 6:30 p.m.
The book is on the first U.S. women's Olympic basketball team that competed in the 1976 Summer Games in Montreal and laid the foundation for women’s sports in America at the youth, college, Olympic and professional levels.
The team featured several legendary figures, including Pat Summitt, Nancy Lieberman, Ann Meyers, Lusia Harris and coach Billie Moore.
Nashville Sounds release 2023 schedule
The Nashville Sounds announced their 2023 schedule and for the second consecutive year will begin the season at home.
Opening Day will be March 31 against the Louisville Bats (Cincinnati Reds affiliate). It will be part of a three-game homestand at First Horizon Park.
The 150-game schedule includes 12 homestands to make up the 75-game home schedule.
Three opponents visit multiple times including the Norfolk Tides (Baltimore Orioles) April 11-16 and June 20-25, Gwinnett Stripers (Atlanta Braves) May 9-14 and June 13-18 and Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Miami Marlins) July 18-23 and Sept. 19-24.
The Sounds play at home on Mother’s Day (May 14) vs. Gwinnett, Father’s Day (June 18) vs. Gwinnett and Independence Day (July 4) vs. Columbus. They are on the road for Easter (April 9) and have Memorial Day (May 29) and Labor Day (Sept. 4) off.
Game times will be announced at a later date. Check milb.com/nashville for the complete schedule.
Scott Wallace leaves Fisk's sports information department for TSU
Scott Wallace, who spent the last seven years at Fisk, is the new sports information director for volleyball and softball at Tennessee State.
Wallace also was a recruiting assistant for the Fisk men’s basketball.
“This is a dream come true to officially work for a Division I school,” Wallace said. “TSU has a rich tradition, and I am looking forward to getting the message out about the athletes of today.”
Before his time at Fisk, Wallace served as sports information director at Columbia State and for several Metro high school teams.
He has also worked for the Metro Mayor’s Office and the Nashville Fairgrounds for 17 years.
Lipscomb sets volleyball attendance record vs Stanford
A record crowd of 3,167 showed up for the Lipscomb-Stanford volleyball match at Allen Arena. Stanford, ranked 14th nationally, won in three sets (25-20, 25-15, 25-14).
Lipscomb junior Meg Mersman led the Bisons with eight kills and junior Delaney Smith was second in the match for digs with five.
The Bisons bounced back and picked up their first win of the season with 3-0 victory over visiting TSU. Attendance for that match was 200.
Lipscomb's Shelby Craft and Katia Hanger were named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List. The trophy goes to the national player of the year determined by Division I coaches.
Mardy Scales steps down as Cumberland's track coach
Cumberland men’s and women’s track and field coach Mardy Scales announced his resignation Tuesday effective Sept. 9. He accepted an assistant coaching position at Kennesaw State.
Cumberland athletics director Ron Pavan named assistant coach Atsu Nyamadi interim head coach starting Sept. 12.
Scales, a former Middle Tennessee State standout, was the school’s first track and field coach hired by Pavan in 2016.
"Mardy has done a tremendous job starting the program and winning national championships," Pavan said. "We are sad to see Mardy go, but he got an opportunity to go to Kennesaw State and wish him the best."
Nyamadi, a native of Accra, Ghana, spent the last four seasons at Cumberland.
TSU and Tennessee Tech football teams will play Kennesaw State
The TSU football team will play Kennesaw State in a home-and-home series in 2023 and 2024, according to fbschedules.com.
Kennesaw State, which is in the Atlantic Sun Conference, will host TSU Oct. 7, 2023, in the first meeting between the two teams.
Kennesaw State will play TSU in Nashville on Sept. 21, 2024.
Tennessee Tech, which plays at Kennesaw State on Oct. 22, also recently agreed to host the Owls on Sept. 23, 2023.
The Golden Eagles will also play at Furman on Sept. 2 and at New Mexico Sept. 9, 2023.
Tale-Gating with Fisher & Friends returns Sept. 24
The second annual Tale-Gating with Fisher & Friends hosted by the Heimerdinger Foundation is set for Sept. 24.
It takes place at former Titans coach Jeff Fisher’s farm in Kingston Springs.
Mike Heimerdinger, the Titans former offensive coordinator, died from cancer in 2011. Proceeds from the event benefit the Meals 4 Health and Healing program sponsored by the Heimerdinger Foundation.
Fisher will be joined by several former Titans and other celebrities, who will tell stories. The lineup of former players and celebrities will be announced soon.
A four-course farm-to-table dinner will be served. The cost is $250 per person/ $1,800 table for eight.
For tickets or more information visit hfmeals.org/fisher-friends.
Father Ryan 2022 hall of fame class inducted
The Father Ryan 2022 Athletics Hall of Fame class was inducted Thursday. It included nine athletes, one coach, three contributors and one team.
The athletes were Paul Barnard (1950, baseball and basketball); Joe Benedict (1963, baseball and basketball); Bobby Berry (1942, basketball and football); Joe Crumby (1995, basketball); Christy Csorna (1999, cross country, track and field); Michael J. Hooker (1974, football, track and field, wrestling); Jocelyn P. Robertson (1976, basketball) and Christina Whitley (2000, basketball and volleyball).
The coach was Bill Bruner (1977, baseball); contributors were Bill Fleming (1949, coach, teacher, principal, donor); Everett Holzapfel (1959, athlete, coach, athletic director); Chuck Meriwether (1974, athlete, coach, MLB umpire, sports executive): and the team was the 1973-74 girls basketball team.
Next race at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway is Sept. 17
The seventh of nine races in the 2022 season at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway is Sept. 17. All eight divisions will be in action.
The leaders in each division heading into the next race include Dylan Fetcho (pro late models); Tanner Arms (super trucks); Kevin Rollins (limited late models); Buddy Moody (street stocks); Michael Neidert (pure stocks); Matt Hamlett (front runners); Oliver Cordell and Michael Crafton (legends) and Landon Thrasher (Bandoleros).
Racing begins at 5 p.m. with six races on the quarter-mile short track before switching to the big tack for the last two.
The Nashville Fair will be going on at the same time. Race admission will be included with the fair admission available for $7 in advance at nashfair.fun.
For more information visit nashvillefairgroundsspeedway.racing or call 615-254-1986.
New Austin Peay baseball coach loads up on Power Five talent
New Austin Peay baseball coach Roland Fanning overhauled the Governors roster.
Fanning added 28 players — 22 from the transfer portal and six high school players who signed in the fall.
Twenty of the transfers are from Division I programs, including 12 from Power 5 programs.
Only nine players return from the 2022 team, which posted a 19-37 record.
The Power 5 transfers include Matt Aribal (Hawaii), John Bay (Oklahoma State), Trevor Conley (Texas Tech), Clayton Gray (Arkansas), Nick James (North Carolina), Jacob Kush (Missouri), Kyle Magrans (Vanderbilt), Garrett Martin (Oklahoma State), Lyle Miller-Green (Oklahoma State), Deaton Oak (Virginia), Davin Pollard (Oklahoma State) and Solomon Washington (Oklahoma State).
Goodpasture's Lynn Dearing coaches 1,000th volleyball match
Goodpasture volleyball coach Lynn Dearing coached her 1,000th career match Monday. She led the Cougars to a win over Green Hill.
It improved Dearing’s record to 779-221.
Dearing is in her eighth season in her latest stint at Goodpasture. She was also the team’s coach from 2001-05.
Dearing, who played basketball at Lipscomb, also coached basketball until 2017.
Lipscomb soccer knocks off top-10 opponent
The Lipscomb men’s soccer team upset No. 10 Saint Louis 2-1 Sunday. The game was played at the Bilikens’ Hermann Stadium.
The Bisons rallied from a 1-0 deficit when Jelldrik Dallmann scored a penalty kick at 12:41 and Hayes Wood added the winning goal at 68:08.
Lipscomb was ranked No. 23 in the United Soccer Coaches National Poll two days after the win.
It was Lipscomb’s first win over a top-10 opponent since beating No. 10 Louisville in 2018.
Lipscomb plays rival Belmont Tuesday at the Bruins' E.S. Rose Park at 6:30 p.m.
Ellis named director of operations for Tennessee Tech women's basketball
Brianna Ellis is Tennessee Tech’s new director of basketball operations.
She replaced Emily Hatfield, who recently became coordinator of video and recruiting operations at Iowa State.
Ellis played at Missouri State (2017-21). After her graduation Ellis served as a radio host and ESPN+ color analyst for Missouri State broadcasts.
She was also assistant director of athletics development at Missouri State.
If you have an item for Midstate Chatter contact Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Titans preseason game, Nolensville LLWS earn solid TV ratings
