Today, the outlook contains of an overview of the squad and a breakdown of the team's challenging schedule. A video of head coach Frank Reed discussing these topics can be accessed by following the link above. Tuesday will feature an in depth breakdown of the pitching staff and below lists the schedule for the outlook.

Jan. 31 - Overview/Schedule
Feb. 2 - Pitching Staff
Feb. 4 - Catchers
Feb. 6 - Corner Infield
Feb. 8 - Middle Infield
Feb. 10 - Outfield

Part One - Overview

Coming off back-to-back NCAA Regional appearances, the Chattanooga softball team will use a combination of experienced veterans, eager newcomers and a redefined team that wants to take the program to the next level in 2010.

Last year, the Lady Mocs finished 30-27 and made their seventh trip to an NCAA Regional after winning the Southern Conference Regular Season title and sweeping through the SoCon Tournament held at Frost Stadium.

The team was unable to carry that momentum into the Tuscaloosa Regional as a pitching duel with Texas ended in an extra innings loss, 1-0. Another 1-0 loss to Mississippi Valley State the following day ended Chattanooga's season.

This year's squad returns nine starters including its top three pitchers, juniors Michelle Fuzzard (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and Kandice Irwin (Knoxville, Tenn.) and senior Brooke Loudermilk (Locust Grove, Ga.).  Four four hitters return, including juniors Fuzzard, Tiffany Baker (East Ridge, Tenn.) and Lyndsey Stiles (Hixson, Tenn.) and senior Kaity Kelley (Chattanooga, Tenn.), who hit .300 last spring.  The only departure was four-year starter Toni Huitchison, who anchored third base for the Lady Mocs.

The team also welcomes three freshmen Ashley Canara (Milton, Ga.), Sara Poteat (Thomaston, Ga.) and Kasey Tydingco (Fairfield, Calif.) that are looking to make an impact this spring. Also, junior Nikki Waters (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.), a transfer from Southern Illinois, will help to solidify one of the deepest pitching staffs in Chattanooga history.

Head coach Frank Reed won his third SoCon Coach of the Year award and enters his ninth season at the helm of the UTC softball team. He is looking for continuity among his assistant coaches, Brad Irwin and Shaina Ervin, to help the team achieve new goals in 2010.

One of the numerous goals of this year's squad is to make another run at the NCAA Regionals. They will be looking to improve from the run the 2002 squad made when they won the first two games and came one win away from advancing to the final of the Tallahassee Regional.

Schedule

The Lady Mocs are known to play a difficult schedule and the National Training Center Invitational in Clermont, Fla., will provide the coaching staff a good idea on how the Lady Mocs compete against top competition. Battles against NCAA Tournament participants Oklahoma, Michigan and Georgia are in store for the Lady Mocs, Feb. 12-14, along with Florida Atlantic and UCF.

"You want to play competition early to see where you are," said Reed. "There will be some good teams there. We are looking at it as a fun time, great weather and an opportunity to play early and see exactly where we are."

The Lady Mocs then travel to Austin Peay the following weekend for a three-day tournament before hosting the annual Frost Classic.  The hosts will face Rutgers Kansas, Kentucky, Georgetown and Miami (Ohio). The fifteen-team tournament is played at Frost Stadium and the three adjacent fields in Warner Park.

Before starting the conference schedule, UTC heads to Tampa, Fla., for the USF Under Armour Invitational to face Massachusetts, Virginia Tech, Bradley, Rutgers and Villanova.

The non-conference schedule is mixed into the conference slate and includes doubleheaders at home with Eastern Illinois and UAB and a single game with Tennessee Tech. Road doubleheaders against Belmont, Georgia State and Tennessee State round out that portion of the schedule.

The Southern Conference slate consists of home games with Furman, Western Carolina, Elon and College of Charleston. Chattanooga hits the road for matchups with Samford, Georgia Southern, Appalachian State and UNC Greensboro.

This season's Southern Conference Tournament has a different format from previous seasons and will be hosted by the regular season champion and consists of the top four teams.

GoMocs.com is the official website of the Chattanooga Lady Mocs.  The Lady Mocs can also be followed on their official Facebook page, www.facebook.com/ChattanoogaMocs, or on Twitter, www.twitter.com/GoMocs.