St. Francis vs. Chattanooga Boxscore
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Sophomore pitcher Brooke Loudermilk (Locust Grove, Ga.) pitched four shutout innings and the Lady Mocs homered in back-to-back-to-back at bats as Chattanooga (9-7) defeated St. Francis (2-4) 8-0 Monday afternoon at Jim Frost Stadium.
The Lady Mocs jumped out ahead early as freshman pitcher Michelle Fuzzard (Huntington Beach, Calif.) lined a two-RBI double to the right centerfield gap to give Chattanooga a 2-0 lead in the first inning before freshman designated hitter Katie Blevins (Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.) drove in a third run with a sacrifice fly.
After a scoreless second inning, the barrage resumed in the third following a walk and fielders choice that put Fuzzard on base. At that point, junior third baseman Toni Hutchison (Madison, Tenn.), Blevins and junior outfielder Laci Upchurch (Madison, Tenn.) homered in back-to-back-to-back at bats to push the UTC lead to 7-0. Senior shortstop Tara Tembey (Folsom, Calif.) then made it 8-0 with her second homerun of the year leading off the top of the fourth inning.
Loudermilk was once again dominant in the circle for the Lady Mocs as she went four innings, allowing only one hit and no runs, and struck out six batters to move to 3-4 on the season and lower her ERA to a team-leading 3.09 with 54 strikeouts. Freshman pitcher Kaitlin Holloway (Chickamauga, Ga.) pitched a scoreless inning of relief in the fifth inning to close out the ball game.
For Chattanooga, Fuzzard lined two doubles to go 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs while Hutchison finished 2-for-3 with a run and two RBIs and her second homerun of the season. Tembey also blasted her second homerun of the year as she went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI while Upchurch connected for her second long ball of the season and also went 2-for-3 with a run scored and RBI.
Blevins took a frozen rope down the left field line for her team-leading sixth homerun of the year, and fifth in the last six days, and finished 1-for-2 with a run and two RBIs. She currently leads the team with 15 RBIs and a 1.000 slugging percentage. Fuzzard is currently batting a team-high .436 and has driven in 14 RBIs with a .631 slugging percentage, both of which are good for second on the team.
As a team, UTC is averaging a homerun per game with 16 on the season and is producing 5.63 runs per game with 90 runs scored this year.
Chattanooga softball returns to the field this weekend when they host the 2008 Frost Classic at Jim Frost Stadium. The tournament will feature Indiana, Connecticut and Marshall among others and will begin at 9:45 a.m. on Friday, February 29.
NOTES
Chattanooga is now 4-0 all-time against St. Francis dating back to the initial meeting on March 30, 1994 ... UTC defeated the Red Flash 4-0 a year ago behind a record setting 14 strikeout performance by Brooke Loudermilk.
