Around the area:

Boyd earns top player honor
SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Appalachian State freshman catcher Katie Boyd has been tabbed the Southern Conference softball Player of the Week to open the 2008 season.

Boyd opened her collegiate career in style with a home run against Southern Mississippi in her first at bat of the season and never let up, batting .769 (10-for-13) with four home runs and seven RBI in the Mountaineers’ opening four games.

The Walkertown, N.C., native had at least two hits in all four contests, including a pair of round-trippers against Eastern Kentucky on Saturday morning and another homer against the Colonels in Saturday’s second game. Boyd also scored seven runs and swiped two bases while amassing a 1.692 slugging percentage.

The Mountaineers play a doubleheader at Charlotte beginning at 2 p.m.

Time changed for Niagara game
Tipoff for Appalachian State’s BracketBusters game against Niagara this Saturday has been changed to 1 p.m at the Holmes Center.

The start time was changed from its originally announced time of 3 p.m. to accommodate the Purple Eagles’ travel schedule.

Lees-McRae splits with Brevard
BREVARD — Lees-McRae won its ninth game of the season Saturday by taking the first game of the double header 4-0 against Brevard in Brevard. The Tornados and Bobcats (9-3) battled through eight innings before Brevard went ahead for the 3-2 win in the second game.