Ball State vs. Chattanooga Boxscore
Baton Rouge, La. ? Sophomore pitcher Brooke Loudermilk (Locust Grove, Ga.) pitched a three-hit shutout and Chattanooga connected for three homeruns as the Lady Mocs (5-2) defeated Ball State 9-0 in five innings at LSU Tiger Park. The victory is the fourth straight for UTC and third in the tournament.
The Lady Mocs struck quickly, taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a double by junior infielder Toni Hutchison (Madison, Tenn.) before Loudermilk settled in and retired the next six Cardinal batters and squelched a Ball State rally in the top of the fourth inning.
After two quick outs in the bottom half of the inning, Chattanooga added to its lead with an RBI double from senior outfielder Ashlan Clarkson (Chickamauga, Ga.) and a two-run homerun by senior outfielder Tara Tembey (Folsom, Calif.) to push the lead to 4-0. An error to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning set the stage for a long two-run homerun over centerfield by junior third baseman Toni Hutchison (Madison, Tenn.) to make it 6-0 before two walks put runners on first and second.
At that point, a towering three-run shot down the left field line by junior outfielder Laci Upchurch (Madison, Tenn.) ended it as she connected for her first homerun of 2008 to give the Lady Mocs a 9-0 victory.
Loudermilk (1-1) collected her first victory of the season and her ninth career shutout while sophomore pitcher Elizabeth Milian (0-2) took the loss for the Cardinals.
Hutchison went 2-for-3 with a homerun, run scored and three RBIs while Tembey went 1-for-2 with a homerun, two runs scored and two RBI. Upchurch finished the day 1-for-3 with a run scored and her three-run walk-off blast. Freshman first baseman Michelle Fuzzard (Huntington Beach, Calif.) added a 2-for-3 performance to raise her team-leading batting average to .500 (9-of-18) and slugging percentage to .778.
Tembey is now batting .478 (11-of-23) and is tied for second on the team at nine RBIs behind Fuzzard's ten and is second with eight runs scored. Upchurch also has nine RBIs while Hutchison has scored a team-high nine runs.
It is the fifth time in seven games this season that Chattanooga has scored at least nine runs and the fourth straight game reaching that mark. During that stretch of four games, the Lady Mocs are averaging 11 runs per game.
The Lady Mocs return to action this afternoon when they face No. 7 LSU in a 3:45 p.m. contest. Chattanooga has never faced the Tigers.
NOTES
Chattanooga last faced a ranked opponent on April 11, 2007 when they fell to No. 2 Alabama in Tuscaloosa, 8-6 and 8-1 ... UTC's last victory over a ranked opponent came on March 24 when they defeated N.C. State 1-0 in eight innings for head coach Frank Reed's 700th career victory.
