UTC-Kent State Box Score
UTC-Arizona State Box Score
TEMPE, Ariz. --- In the first day of the Littlewood Classic the Chattanooga softball team (4-5) was unable to snap its losing skid, now at four, dropping games to Kent State and No. 3 Arizona State. The Lady Mocs fell to the Golden Flashes 4-3 and were downed 10-2 by the Sun Devils.
In the nightcap the UTC offense garnered only two hits as the Lady Mocs were stifled by ASU pitcher Megan Ellsworth. The two base hits occurred in the fourth with Chattanooga trailing 3-0. Lyndsey Stiles led off the inning with an infield single to break up Ellsworth's no-hitter. Michelle Fuzzard would come up two batters later and belt a one-out two-run home run to cut the lead to 3-2.
That would be all for the Lady Mocs' offense however as the Sun Devil offense pulled away with seven more runs to give ASU its second victory over UTC in as many nights.
Fuzzard (0-1) was tagged with the loss, giving up 10 runs, eight earned, and striking out seven.
In the Lady Mocs' game against Kent State, UTC jumped on the Golden Flashes early with three runs in the second. The inning began with a Toni Hutchison single into centerfield. A Brittany Eason sacrifice bunt advanced Hutchison to second before Tia Blosser singled to put runners at the corners. Hutchison scored the game's first run thanks to a Kent State passed ball.
The Lady Mocs would continue the inning with two straight walks to Jessica Traxler and pinch-hitter Jenni Martin when Lyndsey Stiles brought in Blosser on a fielder's choice. Kent State's pitchers aided UTC again with walks to the next two batters, bringing in one more run to push the lead to 3-0.
Kent State would score a lone run in the bottom of the third with a RBI single by Holly Finchum to cut the lead to 3-1.
After a scoreless fourth and fifth for the Lady Mocs, KSU began to make its comeback in the bottom half of the fifth. The inning began with a pitching change, which sent Kaity Holloway to the circle for UTC. Leah Archual led off the inning with a single to left field and was able to advance to second on a Chattanooga error. A passed ball advanced the runner to third before scoring on a third strike wild pitch.
With a runner on first, Jessica Carmichael sent a long drive that hit the top of the left-centerfield wall for a stand-up triple, which tied the game at three. Irwin reentered the game with no outs and a runner on third and was able to retire the next three Golden Flashes batters to avoid any further damage.
The Lady Mocs offense continued to struggle however, as the team was unable to scratch any runs across in the sixth and seventh. In the bottom half of the seventh, Archual led off with a double and was then sacrificed to third by Finchum. Carmichael would then end the game with a single to right field, giving KSU the 4-3 win. Irwin (2-3) took the loss for the Lady Mocs.
Chattanooga will resume play in the Littlewood Classic on Saturday, Feb. 14 with contests against Illinois State and Idaho State. The first game will be at 11 a.m. ET against Illinois State, with the next game immediately following. Live stats will be available for both games at GoMocs.com.
