Courtesy: Jeff Hurndon
Sophomore Jenni Martin had a pinch hit game winning single in the sixth inning against Northern Iowa.
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Chattanooga vs. Northern Iowa
Feb. 21, 2010 |
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Clarksville, Tenn. (Lady Govs Field)
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| Team |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
R |
H |
E |
| UTC (8-2) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
7 |
1 |
| UNI (7-2) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
WP-Brooke Loudermilk (4-1) LP-Melissa Tillet (2-1)
Game Notes:
-Head coach Frank Reed notched his 799th career victory. He is 323-205 in his nine seasons with Chattanooga.
-The 13 strikeouts bring Brooke Loudermilk's total to 49 on the season in 31.2 innings pitched. The hurler has only given up two earned runs for a 0.44 ERA.
- The single by Jenni Martin was her third of the season and second as a pinch hitter.
- Lyndsey Stiles had her first multi-hit game of the season. She had four last season against Western Carolina (4/4/09).
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team came back to beat Northern Iowa, 2-1, in the championship game of the Austin Peay Classic. Sophomore Jenny Martin (East Ridge, Tenn.) came up with a tie score, 1-1, in the sixth to drive in the game-winning run, while senior Brooke Loudermilk struck out 13 Panthers and only gave up one unearned run on three hits.
Coming into the contest, both teams were undefeated at the three-day tournament. Chattanooga improved its win streak to seven after dropping the first two games of the season to ranked opponents and the Panthers fell to 8-2 on the season.
"It is my job to come in and knock the run in, so that is what I was trying to do," said Martin. "Put the ball in play and make something happen. I came up to the plate, got my timing down and waited for a pitch that I could hit."
After junior Lauren Flores (Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.) drove in the game-tying run with one away in the six, Martin came to the plate as a pinch hitter and delivered a single into center field scoring senior Laci Upchurch (Madison, Tenn.).
"I felt like the Coach E [Shaina Ervin] did a good job at keeping the hitters off balance and I hit my spots better than I have," said Loudermilk. "I definitely have a lot to work on after missing a few key spots that almost hurt us. We had to buckle down and focus [after the fluky Northern Iowa run]. We are going to be in these types of position a lot and it is nothing new."
Loudermilk was flawless through the first three innings striking out all nine UNI hitters in order, but they used a bunt single and a slapped ball through the left side to put a runner in scoring position. An errant cutoff throw into the Panther dugout after a fly to center put the home team up, 1-0. The senior settled down after that play to retire the side in order in two of the final three innings, only giving up one hit.
An error by Northern Iowa opened the door for Chattanooga when junior Lyndsey Stiles (Hixson, Tenn.) hit one through the legs of the first baseman with one out. Senior Kaiti Kelley (Chattanooga, Tenn.) beat out an infield bunt and Fuzzard moved the runners to scoring position with two outs, but Chattanooga left those runners on base.
It took six innings and six runners left on bas before the Lady Mocs finally came through in the clutch when it mattered the most. Flores came up and executed a textbook suicide squeeze bunt scoring freshman pinch runner Kasey Tydinco (Fairfield, Calif.), to knot the score at one.
Martin was then asked to pinch hit with two runners on and singled to center driving in senior Laci Upchurch (Madison, Tenn.) as the game winning run. The inning was setup due to a throwing error by the shortstop that sent the ball into right field allowing Tydingco to reach third and Upchurch reach on a fielder's choice advancing to second on the throw to third.
More damage could have been done by Chattanooga as it left the bases loaded, but took a 2-1 lead into the bottom half of the inning. The Lady Mocs defense and pitching closed the door on Northern Iowa in the final two frames to take their third come from behind victory.
