Chattanooga vs. Georgia Southern Box Score
STATESBORO, Ga. ? The Chattanooga Lady Mocs (35-18, 13-4) earned their tenth Southern Conference regular season championship, and second consecutive, on Saturday, May 3 with a 9-4, come from behind victory over the Georgia Southern Eagles (33-28, 12-8) at Eagle Field in Statesboro, Georgia.
The victory guarantees that Chattanooga will enter the 2008 Southern Conference Tournament as the No. 1 seed next weekend in Charleston, South Carolina.
Following a pair of scoreless innings to begin the nightcap, UTC got on the board in the top of the third as redshirt-freshman second baseman Tiffany Baker (East Ridge, Tenn.) led off the inning with a double to the left centerfield gap. Following a ground out for the first out of the inning, senior shortstop Tara Tembey (Folsom, Calif.) then singled down the right field line to drive Baker home and give the Lady Mocs a 1-0 lead.
It would quickly become 2-0 as freshman outfielder Lauren Flores (Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.) doubled to the left centerfield gap to score Tembey all the way from first base before Georgia Southern was able to get out of the inning with back-to-back outs.
Chattanooga continued to pressure Eagle pitching, advancing a runner to third in the fourth inning, before breaking through in the fifth with three singles and an RBI ground out by freshman first baseman Michelle Fuzzard (Huntington Beach, Calif.) to make it 3-0.
GSU answered back with a wild fifth inning as the Eagles got on the board on a throwing error to make it 3-1 before putting runners on first and third for junior first baseman Robyn Siliga. Already with a key three-run home run in the opener, Siliga drilled a second three-run blast to put Georgia Southern ahead 4-3.
The Lady Mocs answered right back in the top of the sixth as junior outfielder Laci Upchurch (Madison, Tenn.) drilled the first pitch she saw over the left centerfield fence for her seventh home run of the season, tying the game a 4-4. It would stay that way until the top of the seventh inning, when UTC produced its own wild inning.
Following back-to-back walks to lead off the inning, junior third baseman Toni Hutchison (Madison, Tenn.) ripped an RBI double to right center to put the Lady Mocs ahead 5-4. After a GSU pitching change, freshman catcher Katie Blevins (Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.) walked to load the bases for Upchurch, who proceeded to single home two more runs and make it 7-4. Blevins then scored on a throwing error and Baker doubled down the left field line to put it at 9-4. All tolled, Chattanooga managed five runs on three hits and an error.
After entering the game in the sixth inning, freshman Kaitlin Holloway (Chickamauga, Ga.) finished off a scoreless two innings in the bottom of the seventh as she allowed a two-out hit before retiring the side to lock up the conference title with the 9-4 victory.
Holloway collected the win to move to 9-2 on the year while Kristan Glover took the loss after allowing three runs in two thirds of an inning to fall to 3-7 on the year.
Offensively, Laci Upchurch led the way with a 2-for-3, two run, three-RBI performance that included the 22nd home run of her career while Lauren Flores had a career high in hits as she went 3-for-3 with a run and RBI. Tiffany Baker also posted a career-high three hits as she finished at 3-for-4 with a run and RBI. Toni Hutchison added a 2-for-4 day with an RBI and run scored while Tembey went 2-for-5 with a run and RBI.
The Lady Mocs wrap up the regular season with the series finale against the Eagles tomorrow afternoon. First pitch is slated for 1.
NOTES
The championship is the tenth regular season title in the 15-year history of the program and second consecutive ...Chattanooga is the first repeat champion in the Southern Conference since the Lady Mocs won six straight championships from 1997-2002 ... Chattanooga eliminated Georgia Southern from contention for the Southern Conference title a year ago by a 9-4 score ... senior Ashlan Clarkson gunned out a GSU runner at the plate to end today's clinching game and keep the score at 9-4.
