East Tennessee State vs. Chattanooga Boxscore
Iowa State vs. Chattanooga Boxscore
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Freshman pitcher Kandice Irwin (Knoxville, Tenn.) pitched four scoreless innings of relief to pick up her third win of the season as Chattanooga (6-7) split their first two games of the Chattanooga Challenge with a 1-0 victory over East Tennessee State (2-7) before being no-hit, 8-0, by Iowa State (8-1) in the night cap Friday evening at Jim Frost Stadium.
In Game 1 against East Tennessee State, Chattanooga made an RBI single by junior infielder Toni Hutchison (Madison, Tenn.) stand up as the Lady Mocs took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Despite several rallies by the Buccaneers, that they would not relinquish that lead the rest of the game.
Following an injury to starting pitcher Michelle Fuzzard that forced her to leave the game after the first inning, freshman pitcher Kandice Irwin (Knoxville, Tenn.) came in and provided four strong innings of relief and sophomore pitcher Brooke Loudermilk (Locust Grove, Ga.) worked her way out of a bases loaded jam in the sixth inning to preserve the narrow lead.
The Lady Mocs mounted a rally in the bottom of the sixth, advancing runners to second and third but could not capitalize. In the seventh, Loudermilk then set down the side in order to close out the 1-0 win and pick up her first save of the season.
Senior outfielder Ashlan Clarkson (Chickamauga, Ga.) and junior third baseman Rachel Norris (Ringgold, Ga.) each went 1-for-2 while Hutchison was 1-for-3 with the lone RBI in the game.
Fuzzard, Irwin, freshman pitcher Kaitlin Holloway (Chickamauga, Ga.) and Loudermilk combined to scatter four hits and polish of the shutout.
In the nightcap against Iowa State, it was a much different story as the Lady Mocs faced the 7-1 Cyclones and freshman pitcher Rachel Zabriskie who entered the night having thrown two no-hitters in her first three collegiate starts.
Both Zabriskie and Chattanooga starting pitcher Brooke Loudermilk were on through the games first two innings as neither team managed to get on the scoreboard. That changed in the third inning when ISU picked up two runs on a sacrifice and a single before senior Ariel Coburn belted a two-run homerun over the left centerfield fence to give the Cyclones a 4-0 lead.
They quickly added to that in the fourth inning, as sophomore Sydni Jones singled through the left side to drive home a solo run and make the score 5-0. Iowa State continued to add to their lead in the fifth as Zabriskie continued her domination on the mound. A wild pitch, sacrifice fly and a groundout increased the Cyclone lead to 8-0 heading to the bottom of the inning.
Zabriskie quickly struck out the first two batters of the inning before inducing a game-ending groundball out to secure her third career no-hitter in four starts. She also struck out eight batters while allowing one walk.
Loudermilk took the loss for the Lady Mocs, dropping to 1-4 on the season, while Zabriskie improved to 4-1. Freshman pitcher Lauren Flores (Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.) was the lone base runner for Chattanooga, drawing a first inning walk.
UTC came closest to breaking up the no-hitter when Toni Hutchison drove a ball to deep left field before sophomore Michelle Dettmer hauled it in over her head to preserve the no-hit bid.
The Lady Mocs return to action tomorrow when they host Bowling Green at 4:30 p.m. at Jim Frost Stadium.
NOTES
The save by Loudermilk is the third of her career, moving her into eighth place on the Lady Mocs all-time career saves list.
