Liberty vs. Chattanooga Boxscore
CLEARWATER, Fla. ? Freshman pitcher Kandice Irwin (Knoxville, Tenn.) pitched four scoreless innings of relief, striking out eight, and sophomore catcher Lynleigh Hurndon (McDonough, Ga.) drove home the game-winning run in the 10th inning as Chattanooga (16-13) defeated Liberty (2-17-1) 3-2 Saturday afternoon in the USF Under Armour Showcase at the Eddie C. Moore Sports Complex.
Liberty got on the board early, making use of a lead-off single to left field and a walk to put runners at first and second. Junior Beth Bennett then singled up the middle to give the Flames a 1-0 lead before Chattanooga retired the next two batters to end the inning.
After a 1-2-3 second inning, Bennett struck again in the third as she singled to right center with a runner on second to increase Liberty's lead to 2-0 after three innings. The score would stay that way until the sixth inning when Chattanooga's bats finally came to life.
Senior shortstop Tara Tembey (Folsom, Calif.) led off the inning with a single to right and went to second on an error by the right fielder before freshman pitcher Michelle Fuzzard (Huntington Beach, Calif.) rapped a double to the right center-field gap to score her and make it 2-1. After freshman Della Harrison (Nashville, Tenn.) pinch ran for Fuzzard, junior third baseman Toni Hutchison (Madison, Tenn.) singled her home to tie the score at 2-2 before a bang-bang double play ended the inning.
Irwin entered the game in relief for the Lady Mocs in the top of the seventh and was masterful as she struck out the side and she threw four scoreless innings to keep the game tied. Chattanooga's offense was not able to get anything going until the tenth inning when freshman infielder Kristin Holloway (Chickamauga, Ga.) reached on an error by third base to put runners on first and third with no one out.
Following an intentional walk to redshirt-freshman infielder Tiffany Baker (East Ridge, Tenn.) to load the bases, Hurndon came to the plate and drove a pitch over the second baseman's head to bring home the game-winning run and give Chattanooga a 3-2 victory in 10 innings.
Bennett lead the way for the Flames as she went 2-for-4 with two RBIs while junior pitcher Sarah Ellis pitched three innings and gave up the game-winning hit to fall to 1-8 on the season. Sophomore pitcher Dana Wheeler started and went six innings, striking out four and allowing two earned runs to register a no-decision.
Michelle Fuzzard went 2-for-4 for Chattanooga with an RBI to raise her team-leading average to .418 while junior outfielder Laci Upchurch (Madison, Tenn.) finished at 2-for-4 with a run scored. Toni Hutchison went 1-for-3 with an RBI and Lynleigh Hurndon connected for her game-winning RBI to round out the offensive attack for the Lady Mocs.
In the pitching circle, Kandice Irwin pitched four scoreless innings of relief and struck out eight batters to move to pick up the win and move to 7-5 on the season while Fuzzard started and went six innings, striking out three and allowing only two earned runs.
Chattanooga wraps up the USF Under Armour Showcase tomorrow morning when they face Penn State at 9:30 a.m.
NOTES
Chattanooga is 2-0 this season in 10 inning games ... the Lady Mocs also defeated Kentucky 9-6 in 10 innings on February 10 on Lauren Flores' walk-off grandslam ... Chattanooga is now 6-0 all-time against Liberty.
