Marshall vs. Chattanooga Boxscore
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? After a back-and-forth affair, freshman first baseman Michelle Fuzzard (Huntington Beach, Calif.) belted a walk-off homerun in the bottom of the seventh inning as Chattanooga (11-8) defeated Marshall (8-10) 6-5 Sunday afternoon in the finale of the Frost Classic at Jim Frost Stadium
After working out of a first and second jam with no outs in the top of the second inning, the Lady Mocs got on the board in the their half of the third inning as freshman outfielder Lauren Flores (Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.) connected for an RBI single and redshirt-freshman infielder Tiffany Baker (East Ridge, Tenn.) drilled an RBI double to give UTC a 2-0 lead.
Chattanooga added to its lead in the fourth inning when Baker led off with a triple to the right field gap and was driven in by a Flores sacrifice fly to make it 3-0 Lady Mocs.
The Thundering Herd made their presence known in the fifth inning, however, as they scored four runs on three hits, including a three-run homerun by senior Samantha Rodriguez, to take a 4-3 lead. It would be short lived, however, as UTC quickly responded with an RBI triple from freshman catcher Katie Blevins (Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.) and a sacrifice fly from junior outfielder Laci Upchurch (Madison, Tenn.) to regain the lead, 5-4, in the bottom half of the fifth inning.
Marshall rallied to tie the game in the top of the seventh inning as junior Rachael Sofie lined a double to left center, tying the game at 5-5. Following a ground out to start the bottom of the seventh inning, Fuzzard then powered a massive homerun down the left field line to give the Lady Mocs the 6-5 victory and 2-1 record over the weekend.
Fuzzard went 2-for-4 on the day with a run and an RBI while Flores, Blevins and junior third baseman Toni Hutchison (Madison, Tenn.) each went 1-for-2 with a run and an RBI. Freshman outfielder Lyndsey Stiles (Hixson, Tenn.) and Upchurch each contributed an RBI.
For Marshall, Rodriguez led the way with three RBIs while senior Rachel Folden went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.
Freshman pitcher Kandice Irwin (Knoxville, Tenn.) earned the win for Chattanooga to go to 5-3 on the season while junior Autumn Mitchell took the loss for the Herd to drop to 4-3 on the year.
The Lady Mocs return to action on Tuesday, March 4 when they host the Toledo Rockets in a double-header at 4 p.m. at Jim Frost Stadium.
