Middle Tennessee vs. Chattanooga Box Score - Game 1
Middle Tennessee vs. Chattanooga Box Score - Game 2
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? Senior outfielder Ashlan Clarkson (Chickamauga, Ga.) was one of three Lady Mocs to belt home runs and senior shortstop Tara Tembey (Folsom, Calif.) went 4-for-7 with three runs scored to lead Chattanooga (29-14,7-0) to a pair of victories, 7-3 and 7-2, over Middle Tennessee State (15-21, 7-7 Sun Belt) Thursday evening at Jim Frost Stadium.
After being held hitless through the first three innings, Middle Tennessee led off the fourth with a double and single to put runners on second and third. A bunt single by senior first baseman Whitney Darlington followed by a passed ball gave the Blue Raiders a 2-0 advantage.
They would add a third run the following inning when a single, sac bunt and ground out advanced the leadoff batter to third base. Senior catcher Katie Mielke then doubled to right center to push the lead to 3-0.
Chattanooga got it all back, and then some, in their half of the fifth inning. A leadoff single, sacrifice bunt, passed ball and single by freshman outfielder Lyndsey Stiles (Hixson, Tenn.) got the Lady Mocs on the board at 3-1. She advanced to second on a throwing error and moved to third on a double to left by Tara Tembey. A ground out put the second out on the scoreboard before freshman first baseman Michelle Fuzzard (Huntington Beach, Calif.) reached on a fielder's choice to score Stiles from third and make it 3-2.
Junior third baseman Toni Hutchison (Madison, Tenn.) followed that with an RBI single to tie the game and freshman catcher Katie Blevins (Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.) laced a double to the left centerfield gap to score two more and give Chattanooga a 5-3 lead. All tolled, UTC tallied five runs on five hits and one error in the inning.
The Lady Mocs continued to rip the ball in the sixth, adding a pair of insurance runs as freshman outfielder Lauren Flores (Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.) singled home a run to make it 6-3 and Fuzzard doubled to right center to reach the final margin of 7-3. Sophomore pitcher Brooke Loudermilk (Locust Grove, Ga.), who started the game but left in the fourth inning, re-entered the game in the sixth inning with the score at 5-3 and had an uneventful two innings to collect her fourth save of the season.
Freshman pitcher Kaitlin Holloway (Chickamauga, Ga.) pitched two innings of relief, allowing three hits and a run, to move to 5-1 on the season. She has earned a win in each of her last three outings, all in relief. Sophomore Lindsey Vander Lugt went the distance for MTSU, taking the loss to fall to 10-12 on the year.
Offensively for Chattanooga, Michelle Fuzzard went 2-for-4 with a run scored, two RBIs and her team-leading 12th double while Lyndsey Stiles tied her career-highs for hits, runs and RBIs as she went 2-for-3 with two runs, an RBI and her fifth stolen base. Katie Blevins finished with a hit and two RBIs while Toni Hutchison and Lauren Flores each added an RBI.
A three-run shot by Ashlan Clarkson down the left field line in the second inning of the nightcap gave the Lady Mocs an early 3-0 lead in that contest. The score would stay at 3-0 until the top of the fourth when a pair of singles by junior designated hitter Justine Cerda and junior third baseman Whittney Padgett narrowed the gap to 3-2.
Katie Blevins then gave the Lady Mocs a little breathing room as she led off the next inning with her 13th home run of the season, a towering shot that sailed over the scoreboard in left center, to make it 4-2. Chattanooga would add to that lead in the fifth inning, as a leadoff walk, double and sac bunt put runners on second and third. Michelle Fuzzard then lifted a sac fly to left to extend to a 5-2 advantage before Toni Hutchison drilled her fifth home run of the season down the left field line to make it 7-2.
Fuzzard, who entered in relief in the fourth inning, then proceeded to retire the side 1-2-3 in each of the last two innings to pick up the win and move to 4-2 on the season. Freshman Kellie Head allowed all seven runs, four earned, and took the loss for Middle Tennessee to fall to 5-9 in 2008.
Ashlan Clarkson led the way at the plate for the Lady Mocs, finishing the night 2-for-3 with a run scored and three RBIs, all on her second home run of the season, while Hutchison added two RBIs on her fifth home run. Blevins blast pushes her team-leading RBI total to 34 on the season while Fuzzard added an RBI on a sac fly. Tara Tembey finished 2-for-3 with a run scored and went 4-for-7 with three runs scored.
Chattanooga has now won 13 consecutive games, its longest such streak since the 2005 team won 15 straight from March 11-30 of that year and is tied for the fifth longest in program history. The 2001 and 2004 teams each won 17 in a row (March 17-April 13, 2001 and April 1-May1, 2004) while the 1998 team won 15 consecutive games from March 28-April 17. The 2002 squad, in Coach Reed's first season, won 13 games in a row from April 20-May 17.
The Lady Mocs return to action on Saturday, April 12 when they resume their Southern Conference schedule by hosting the Elon Phoenix in a three-game series at Jim Frost Stadium. First pitch of Game 1 is slated for 1:00 p.m. on Saturday with the series finale set for 2:00 p.m.
NOTES
With her fourth save of the season, Brooke Loudermilk is now tied for fourth most in a single season at Chattanooga and moves into a ninth-place tie nationally ... she is tied for fourth all-time at UTC with six career saves ... with 13 home runs this season, Katie Blevins is only one home run away from tying the Lady Mocs single-season mark of 14 set by Angela Brewer in 2001 ... her 13 home runs tie her for eighth all-time on the career list ... Chattanooga is now 18-4 at home this season and has won 11 straight at Jim Frost Stadium ... UTC's last defeat at home was a 1-0 loss to Connecticut on March 1.
