Having seen their 14-game winning streak and undefeated run in the Southern Conference come to a close last weekend with a 5-1 loss to Elon, the Lady Mocs began a new win streak with a 4-2 victory to close out the series and push their record to 31-15 overall and 9-1 in the conference. Chattanooga remains atop the Southern Conference standings as they travel to Furman for a three-game series with the Paladins from April 19-20. Game 1 is slated for 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 19 and will be directly followed by the second game before the series wraps up with a 1:00 p.m. finale on Sunday, April 20.
Team Capsules
Chattanooga Lady Mocs
2008 Record: 31-15, 9-1
2007 Record: 35-31, 16-5
2007 Southern Conference Regular Season Champions
The Recap
Chattanooga extended its season-high win streak to 14 games last Saturday, April 12 with an 8-2 series opening victory over Elon before dropping their first Southern Conference contest, 5-1, in the nightcap to fall to 8-1 in conference. The Lady Mocs got back on beam the following day when a three run second inning and solid relief pitching from freshman Kaitlin Holloway (Chickamauga, Ga.) gave them a 4-2 victory.
UTC rebounded in Game 1 after allowing two first-inning runs to the Phoenix by pounding out four runs on four hits, including a three-run blast by junior outfielder Laci Upchurch (Madison, Tenn.) down the right field line for a 4-2 advantage. They kept up the offensive intensity the following inning, pushing across another run on an RBI single by freshman first baseman Michelle Fuzzard (Huntington Beach, Calif.) before a pair of RBI singles and an error brought home the final three runs in the third inning, making it 8-2.
Holloway pitched 4.2 scoreless, one-hit innings to collect the win while freshman catcher Katie Blevins (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) and Upchurch each had a career-high three hits. Upchurch added three RBIs while Blevins scored two runs and drove one in.
Elon took control of Game 2 very early on as they registered four runs in the first inning behind a hit and two errors for a 4-0 lead. UTC got on the board when Upchurch led off the bottom of the second by slamming her fifth home run of the season off the left field foul pole to make it 4-1. The Lady Mocs would keep it at a three-run deficit as Holloway continued her strong performance as she entered in the first inning and pitched 6.2 innings of one-run, three hit ball, allowing the only run in the seventh, before the Phoenix closed out the 5-1 victory.
Chattanooga took the series with a 4-2 victory in Game 3 that featured a three-run second inning and a 2-for-3 performance by freshman outfielder Lyndsey Stiles (Hixon, Tenn.) that included a run, RBI and steal of home. Holloway picked up her fifth win in her last six outings, all in relief, with three scoreless, three hit innings to move to 7-1.
Chattanooga Statistical Leaders
Katie Blevins continues to lead Chattanooga in a number of power categories with 13 homeruns, 35 RBIs and a .750 slugging percentage while Michelle Fuzzard leads the team with a .366 batting average, .416 on-base percentage and 12 doubles. She is second on the team with five homeruns, 30 RBIs and a .567 slugging percentage while Tara Tembey is batting .329 with nine doubles, three triples, four homeruns, 20 RBIs, a .503 slugging percentage and a career-high and team-leading ten steals. Laci Upchurch is third on the team with a .310 batting average, is tied for third with five home runs and is fourth with 26 RBIs. Junior third baseman Toni Hutchison is fourth on the team with a .309 batting average, third on the club with 27 RBIs and is tied for third with five home runs. She also has eight doubles and a .478 slugging percentage.
In the pitching circle, Brooke Loudermilk has been dominant and leads the staff with a 2.04 ERA, 172 strikeouts, 12 wins (12-6), four saves, an opposing batting average of .195 and 130.1 innings. Freshman Kandice Irwin (Knoxville, Tenn.) is second on the team with eight wins (8-6), 89 strikeouts, 2.56 ERA and a .228 opposing batting average. Kaitlin Holloway has been one of Chattanooga's most effective pitchers over the last two weeks as she has made six appearances and collected five wins while striking out 18 batters and allowing only 12 hits and two runs over 23.1 innings. Overall, she has made 19 appearances, 18 in relief, and is 7-1 with 39 strikeouts in 45.1 innings.
Chattanooga in the Polls
With a 31-15 overall record and 9-1 mark in the Southern Conference, the Lady Mocs have received two votes in the Ultimate College Softball Top 25 Poll. Voted on by select college coaches around the nation, the UCS Top 25 is released weekly. The complete poll can be found at http://www.ultimatecollegesoftball.com/top25.php. Chattanooga is also currently featured in the UCS Watch List, a compilation of teams across the country that are quickly rising through the ranks of Division I softball. The UCS Watch List can be found at http://www.ultimatecollegesoftball.com/watchlist.php.
Southern Conference Recognition
Following a week in which she made four appearances, including every game of the Elon series, the Southern Conference announced this week that Kaitlin Holloway has been named the Pitcher of the Week for the week ending April 13. The Chickamauga, Georgia native compiled three wins, 10 strikeouts and allowed only 10 hits, three walks and one extra base hit in 16.1 innings of relief.
She set a career-high with 6.2 innings of relief in Game 2 against the Phoenix on April 12 after throwing 4.2 innings scoreless, one-hit innings in the opener for a total of 11.1 innings and allowed a total of four hits, one run and three walks.
It is the first such award of Holloway's career and the third this season for Lady Mocs pitching. Brooke Loudermilk has been named Pitcher of the Week twice and was also named Pitcher of the Month for March. It is the second in-season conference award for Chattanooga's freshman class as Katie Blevins was named Player of the Week for the weekending February 25.
Lady Mocs in the National Rankings
Nationally, Loudermilk is tied for 12th in the country with four saves and is 26th in strikeouts per seven innings with a 9.26 average while Blevins is tied for sixth in home runs per game (0.33), 32nd in slugging percentage (.750) and is 53rd in RBIs per game (0.89) entering the week. As a team, Chattanooga is sixth in the country with a .977 fielding percentage and trails NCAA leader Texas A&M (.984) by only .007. The Lady Mocs .674 winning percentage ties them for 46th best in the country with BYU and Nevada while their average of 0.80 home runs per game is good for 38th in the nation..
Lady Mocs Record Watch
With 13 homeruns, Katie Blevins is tied for second on the Lady Mocs single season home run list and is one away from tying Angela Brewer (2000-01) for the season mark of 14 set in 2001. She is also currently tied for eighth on the all-time career list.
Brooke Loudermilk's four saves this season tie her for the fourth most in a single season in the 15-year history of Chattanooga softball and also tie her for fourth on the all-time career list.
Furman Paladins
2008 Record: 19-22, 7-5
2007 Record: 21-36-1, 7-13
Furman enters the weekend with a 19-22 overall record having split with Georgia State (29-13) on Wednesday, April 16. An unearned run in the second inning of Game 1 and two runs on two hits and a pair of errors in the fifth gave the Paladins all they would need as they pulled out a 3-0 victory against a good Panther team. A third inning run in the nightcap was not enough as a pair of Furman errors in the fourth gave Georgia State a 2-1 lead that they made hold up for a series split.
In conference, the Paladins have posted a 7-5 mark and sit in third place having gone 6-2 in their last eight Southern Conference contests, including a sweep of the College of Charleston from April 5-6. Their only to losses during that stretch came on April 12 when Appalachian State defeated them in a pair of extra inning contests, 6-4 (8) in the opener and 2-1 (9).
The Paladins other three conference losses have come at the hands of Georgia Southern, 3-0 on March 21 and 11-2 in six innings on March 22, and 4-2 to Elon on March 29. In non-conference play, Furman dropped a pair of contests to Georgia, 5-1 and 6-0, on March 5 and split with Charlotte on March 12, netting a 3-2 victory in nine innings before falling 3-1 in the second game. They also posted a third win over Charlotte, 1-0, on March 16.
Sophomore infielder Brythe Blankenship leads the offense with a team-high four home runs and 24 RBIs while junior third baseman Abby Robertson leads the team with a .317 batting average and is one of the toughest players in the nation to strikeout. In 126 official at bats in 2008, Robertson has only four strikeouts and currently ranks 6th in the nation entering the week with an average of one strikeout per every 29.8 at bats. Sophomore Lana Mackey not only anchors the pitching staff with a 14-17 record, 3.15 ERA and 179 strikeouts in 178 innings but is also second on the team with three home runs and 21 RBIs. Freshman Bethany Ullrich is the only pitcher who has seen action this year, having posted a 5-5 record and 3.30 ERA.
All-Time Series vs. Furman
A match-up between two of the original three teams in Southern Conference softball, Furman and Chattanooga have met a total of 59 times with the Lady Mocs holding a 42-17 advantage. At one point, Chattanooga won 23 straight meetings from May 7, 2000 ? May 6, 2006 and has won 26 of the last 28 contests, including the last three. Furman's last two victories came on May 7, 2006, 8-5, and 3-2 on May 12, 2006 in the Southern Conference Tournament. The Paladins longest winning streak in the series is five games stretching from April 8, 2000 to May 6, 2000. The teams have met a total of eight times in the post season, with the Lady Mocs winning six of the eight match-ups.
All-Time Results vs. Furman
April 29, 2007 - Chattanooga, 6-3
April 28, 2007 - Chattanooga, 1-0
April 28, 2007 - Chattanooga, 5-3
May 12, 2006 - Furman, 3-2 %
May 7, 2006 - Furman, 8-5
May 6, 2006 - Chattanooga, 4-3
May 6, 2006 - Chattanooga, 3-2 (11)
May 15, 2005 - Chattanooga, 9-0 %
March 26, 2005 - Chattanooga, 10-1 (5)
March 25, 2005 - Chattanooga, 2-0
March 25, 2005 - Chattanooga, 7-2
May 1, 2004 - Chattanooga, 4-3 (8)
May 1, 2004 - Chattanooga, 2-1
May 8, 2003 - Chattanooga, 5-0 %
April 19, 2003 - Chattanooga, 6-2
April 18, 2003 - Chattanooga, 10-4
April 18, 2003 - Chattanooga, 4-0
May 6, 2002 - Chattanooga, 9-0 %
April 7, 2002 - Chattanooga, 4-0
April 6, 2002 - Chattanooga, 4-1 (8)
April 6, 2002 - Chattanooga, 5-1
May 6, 2001 - Chattanooga, 4-1
May 5, 2001 - Chattanooga, 2-0
April 1, 2001 - Chattanooga, 1-0
March 31, 2001 - Chattanooga, 8-0 (6)
March 31, 2001 - Chattanooga, 3-2
May 7, 2000 - Chattanooga, 2-0 (8) %
May 7, 2000 - Chattanooga, 2-0 %
May 6, 2000 - Furman, 2-1 %
April 9, 2000 - Furman, 1-0
April 9, 2000 - Furman, 3-2 (10)
April 8, 2000 - Furman, 5-3 (8)
April 8, 2000 - Furman, 2-1
April 11, 1999 - Chattanooga, 6-3
April 11, 1999 - Chattanooga, 6-0
April 10, 1999 - Chattanooga, 2-0
April 10, 1999 - Chattanooga, 10-1 (6)
May 2, 1998 - Chattanooga, 6-2
April 26, 1998 - Chattanooga, 8-0 (5)
April 26, 1998 - Chattanooga, 13-1 (6)
April 25, 1998 - Furman, 5-3 (11)
April 25, 1998 - Furman, 2-1
April 28, 1997 - Chattanooga, 5-0
April 26, 1997 - Chattanooga, 9-1 (6)
April 19, 1997 - Chattanooga, 3-1 ^
April 5, 1997 - Chattanooga, 5-0
April 5, 1997 - Chattanooga, 1-0
April 27, 1996 - Chattanooga, 3-2 %
April 7, 1996 - Chattanooga, 9-0 (6)
April 7, 1996 - Furman, 8-2
April 6, 1996 - Chattanooga, 6-1
April 6, 1996 - Furman, 4-3
April 22, 1995 - Furman, 7-2
April 5, 1995 - Furman, 8-3
April 5, 1995 - Furman, 7-1
April 4, 1995 - Chattanooga, 18-1
April 4, 1995 - Furman, 5-1
March 13, 1994 - Furman, 7-3
March 13, 1994 - Furman, 3-2
% Southern Conference Tournament
^ Frost Cutlery Tournament
