No. 8 Western Carolina vs. No. 1 Chattanooga Box Score
Mt. PLEASANT, S.C. - Sophomore pitcher Brooke Loudermilk (Locust Grove, Ga.) struck out 14 batters and redshirt-freshman second baseman Tiffany Baker (East Ridge, Tenn.) went 3-for-3 and drove in the tying run as Chattanooga (36-19, 13-5) rallied to hand No. 8 Western Carolina (19-35, 7-14) a 3-1 defeat in the first round of the 2008 Southern Conference Tournament Wednesday afternoon at Patriots Point Stadium in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
A pitchers duel through the game's first five innings, Western Carolina broke the scoreless deadlock in the top of the sixth inning on a single to left center and scored the go-ahead run on an error to take a 1-0 lead. It would be short lived, however, as the Lady Mocs bats came alive in the bottom half of the inning.
A leadoff walk by senior outfielder Ashlan Clarkson (Chickamauga, Ga.) and a double to left center by Baker tied the game at 1-1 within a matter of minutes. With Baker on second, sophomore catcher Lynleigh Hurndon (McDonough, Ga.) laid down a successful sacrifice bunt to move her to third before sophomore catcher Brittany Eason (Chattanooga, Tenn.) lifted a fly ball to right to give Chattanooga the lead, 2-1, on a sac fly.
The offensive attack continued as senior shortstop Tara Tembey (Folsom, Calif.) came away with an infield single and then proceeded to swipe her 12th base of the year to put another runner in scoring position. Freshman pitcher Michelle Fuzzard (Huntington Beach, Calif.) then laced a single up the middle for her second hit of the day and the Lady Mocs third run, making it 3-1 before the Catamounts could get out of the inning.
That would be all they would need as Loudermilk was masterful, striking out the next two batters after a leadoff single in the seventh before inducing a ground out to shortstop to wrap up the 3-1 victory.
Loudermilk finished with 14 strikeouts, one away from her own program record of 15, and scattered seven hits to collect her 14th win of the year while junior Lauren Ross allowed all three runs to fall to 9-18 on the season.
Offensively for Chattanooga, Tiffany Baker led the way with a career-high tying three hits as she went 3-for-3 with a pair of singles and a game-tying double while Michelle Fuzzard finished 2-for-4 with a an RBI. Brittany Eason rounded out the UTC scoring with an RBI on a sac fly and added a walk and Tara Tembey went 2-for-4 with a run and stolen base.
The Lady Mocs move into the second day of action and will face No. 5 UNC Greensboro at 3:00 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. The Spartans defeated No. 4 Elon 1-0 in the first game of the day to advance to tomorrow's game with the Lady Mocs.
NOTES
Chattanooga's victory snaps a run of eight consecutive tournament games where the lower seed had pulled an upset, including the entire 2007 tournament and dating back to 2006...it is the Lady Mocs first tournament win since defeating UNC Greensboro 2-0 in the second game of the 2006 tournament.
