Former 49er Smith gets MLS start

A few non-basketball and -football news items:

-- Former 49ers soccer midfielder Donnie Smith got his first Major League Soccer start last week for the New England Revolution. Smith played 53 minutes in a 1-0 loss against the Chicago Fire.

-- 49ers leftfielder Justin Seager is the Atlantic 10's baseball player of the week. Seager had 10 hits in five games lat week and has a six-game hitting streak heading into Wednesday's game at Duke. He had a .727 on-base percentage, scoring five runs and had five RBIs. He had two three-hit games in a weekend sweep of Siena, including a walk-off double in a Friday victory.

-- The 49ers' women's soccer team announced its spring schedule: March 21, Catawba; April 7, at South Carolina; April 7, Coastal Carolina (at Columbia); 11, Furman; 12, USC Upstate (at Rock Hill's Manchester Meadows); 12, Winthrop (at Manchester Meadows); 19, Appalachian State.