UTC-North Florida Box Score
COLUMBIA, S.C. --- The snake-bitten Chattanooga softball team fell 4-3 in the final game of the Gamecock Invitational Sunday, thanks to a walk-off two-run home run by UNF right fielder Kara Rutenbar. The Lady Mocs (5-11), who have battled injuries all season, have now dropped five games in a row.
"We got off to a good start in this game, which is something we have been pressuring them to do," head coach Frank Reed said. "They were in this one until the end, but it came down to one final swing. This let me know that we have some kids that will step up, but we still have things we need to work on."
Despite the loss, the UTC offense had a season-high nine hits, four off the bat of Michelle Fuzzard and Lauren Flores, who had two apiece and finished 2-for-3. Kandice Irwin (2-6) suffered the loss for Chattanooga, giving up four earned while striking out six.
Much like its game with South Carolina, the Lady Mocs left several runners on base. In Sunday's contest UTC left nine stranded with at least one in every inning except the second, while UNF left eight on base.
The Lady Mocs never trailed in the contest, until Rutenbar's blast, as Chattanooga put up three runs off five UTC hits. The team mounted a big two-out rally in the frame, started off by a Fuzzard double. After Tiffany Baker drew a base-on-balls, Toni Hutchison smashed her team-leading fourth home run of the season to give the team a 3-0 advantage.
North Florida (5-13) threatened as well in the inning, loading up the bases, all with two outs. UTC would escape unscathed however, as Irwin forced Allyson Bailey to ground out.
In the second and third innings both teams were held in check. Chattanooga threatened again in the fourth thanks to a one-out Flores double. Kaiti Kelley singled advancing Flores to third, when Lyndsey Stiles slapped a dribbler past the pitcher only to get Flores thrown out at home by the shortstop for the second out. Tia Blosser ended the inning by fouling out to the catcher.
The fifth frame began a stretch of three straight innings where the Lady Mocs had their leadoff hitter reach. In the fifth, Fuzzard collected her second hit of the day with a single, but was left marooned on the base paths.
Flores led off the following inning with a triple into right-center, the first of the season for the Lady Mocs. Kelley recorded the first out of the inning with a comebacker to the pitcher and Stiles was unable to get Flores home on a squeeze bunt as the team let another scoring opportunity go by the wayside.
After the top half of the seventh, Irwin retired the first UNF hitter on a pop-up to Blosser at short. Ashley Battaglia then reached base on a single up the middle, bringing up Rutenbar. On the first pitch she saw, Rutenbar drove it over the left field wall to give the Lady Ospreys the 4-3 victory.
The Lady Mocs will return to the diamond on Friday, Feb. 27 for the beginning of a nine-game homestand. Chattanooga will host its annual Frost Classic, which will feature 14 teams in 2009. UTC will start the tournament at 3 p.m. against Dayton and will wrap up the day against Princeton at 5:30 p.m.
