Kentucky vs. Chattanooga Boxscore
Wichita State vs Chattanooga Boxscore
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Senior Tara Tembey (Folsom, Calif.) went 5-of-8 with two runs scored and an RBI and redshirt-freshman Tiffany Baker (East Ridge, Tenn.) belted her first career home run as Chattanooga (1-1) split their first two games of the season with a 3-2 loss to Kentucky (2-0) and a 9-3 victory over Wichita State (0-2) Saturday afternoon at Jim Frost Stadium.
The Lady Mocs got on the board early against Kentucky, pushing across two unearned runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead before the Wildcats responded in the top of the third inning. After loading the bases with no one out, sophomore pitcher Brooke Loudermilk (Locust Grove, Ga.) nearly worked out of the jam, getting back-to-back outs before senior first baseman Ashley Dimkich laced a single down the third base line to tie the game at 2-2.
The score would remain tied until the top of the seventh inning when sophomore shortstop Molly Johnson reached on a single and moved to third base on a passed ball. A groundout by right fielder Becky Bishop then drove in the go ahead run to make it 3-2, Kentucky, before the Wildcats held off a late rally by the Lady Mocs in the bottom of the inning.
Senior pitcher Megan Jolly collected the complete game win for UK and Johnson went 2-of-3 with two runs while Dimkich drove in two runs.
For Chattanooga, Tembey posted a 2-for-4 performance with a run scored while sophomore catcher Brittany Eason (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and junior outfielder Laci Upchurch (Madison, Tenn.) each collected a hit.
In the nightcap, Wichita State pushed across a run in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead before Tiffany Baker belted a two-run home run in the bottom of the inning to put UTC ahead 2-1. In the bottom of the third inning, that lead would balloon to 7-1 as the Lady Mocs scored five runs with a key three-run double being delivered by freshman pitcher Michelle Fuzzard (Huntington Beach, Calif.). Chattanooga tacked on two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning before wrapping up the 9-3 victory.
Freshman pitcher Kandice Irwin (Knoxville, Tenn.) went seven innings to notch her first career victory while senior pitcher Cynthia Verhulst took the loss for the Shockers.
In the Shootout's other game of the day, Kentucky opened their season with a victory, defeating Wichita State 5-2 in the early game.
The Lady Mocs resume play tomorrow afternoon when they take on Wichita State at 12:45 p.m. and Kentucky at 3:00 p.m.
