CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team needed some more late inning heroics to win the first game, 3-2, in eight, but the bats came alive in game two as the Lady Mocs run-ruled Eastern Illinois, 12-4 in five frames. Junior Lyndsey Stiles (Hixson, Tenn.) notched the game-winning single in the eighth, while sophomore Jenni Martin (East Ridge, Tenn.) sent the game into the extra frame with a double to center an inning earlier.

"I thought we came out a little sluggish in the first game," said head coach Frank Reed. "Between the games when I talked with the team, I told them I wasn't really happy with the way they preformed. I felt like we came out flat. We had to really scramble in the last inning to score. Fortunately for us, we got some great base running from Kasey Tydingco to score the winning run. I loved the team that came out and played the second game. We came back to score three in the third, four in the fourth and fifth. That is the team that I love to coach."

Junior Nikki Waters (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) stroked two home runs, one in each game, to provide some power to the Chattanooga line up. She now has four on the season with all of them coming in the last five games as a designated player and pitcher.

Both victories were earned by junior Kandice Irwin (Knoxville, Tenn.), who now has three on the season, all as a relief pitcher. In each game, she worked out of a difficult situation to limit the damage by the opposition giving Chattanooga a chance to comeback.

Game One: Chattanooga 3, Eastern Illinois 2 (8 inn.)

Stiles drove in the game-winning run with a single in the eighth inning as the UTC softball team came back to defeat Eastern Illinois 3-2 at Frost Stadium. After the Panthers broke up the no hitter by senior Brooke Loudermilk (Locust Grove, Ga.) in the seventh inning, they scored two runs to take the lead, 2-1, but pinch hitter Jenni Martin (East Ridge, Tenn.) had a RBI double over the center fielder's head to extend the game.

"I had been struggling at the plate the whole game," said Stiles. "I was hoping to hit the ball on the ground, so I could beat it out and at least get on base for someone else to have a chance to hit. I wasn't thinking that I was going to get game winning hit."

Through the first six innings, Loudermilk was impressive striking out six and walking just two baffling Eastern Illinois with no hits. She had help from her defense of course as they made play after play to retire the Panthers.

Picking up the victory was Irwin, her second of the year, pitching 1.2 innings and striking out four.

With a 2-for-2 performance, senior Brittany Eason (Chattanooga, Tenn.) also executed a sacrifice bunt as she is now getting back on track after missing a few games earlier this season when she was hit by a pitch.

Leading off the second inning, junior Nikki Waters (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) pulled a 2-0 pitch down the left field line for her third home run of the season. The score would stay 1-0 Chattanooga all the way to seventh inning.

One of the few mistakes by Loudermilk was throwing three-straight balls to the leadoff batter Melinda Jackson in the seventh, where she eventually walked putting a runner on first. Junior third baseman Tiffany Baker (East Ridge, Tenn.) decided to pick up a sacrifice bunt and throw to second, but Jackson beat it out.

With two runners on base, the Panthers decided to bunt again and move both runners into scoring position and this time the Lady Mocs got the first out of the inning. Melise Brown then singled up the middle scoring two runs to give Eastern Illinois a lead, 2-1.

After another single put two more runners in scoring position, coach Reed made the switch to Irwin, who has been stellar for the Lady Mocs as a reliever. Irwin had a tough time striking out Ashely Anderton, who fouled off four pitches from the hard throwing pitcher, but she got her on strikes and a groundout to end the Panthers' rally. 

The Lady Mocs bats were unusually quiet for a couple innings, but came alive when they needed to with Eason drilling a ball through the hole on the left side with one out. With two outs and a runner on second, Reed decided to use pinch hitter Martin and she came through doubling to the fence in center field.

"I was just waiting to get a pitch I could hit," said Martin. "The pitcher gave me one and I just tried to hit it hard. There was a lot of pressure, but that's when I do my best."

With the tie-breaker rules placing a runner at second, the game-winning run advanced to third on a passed ball. After a strikeout and walk the game got interesting when Chattanooga picked off the runner at third on a failed suicide squeeze, where the batter could not make contact, but the alert runner at first moved over to third with two outs. Irwin ended the threat with her fourth strikeout of the game.

Freshman Kasey Tydingco (Fairfield, Calif.) was the last one out in the seventh and the speedster started on second for the Lady Mocs. As soon as the inning started, Stiles ended it with a single to right center scoring the game-winning run as Chattanooga won 3-2.

Pitching for the Panthers was Amber May, who pitched a complete game yielding three runs, two earned on five hits and striking out six.

Game Two: Chattanooga 12, Eastern Illinois 4 (5 inn.)

After the Panthers took a 4-1 lead in the second, Chattanooga answered scoring the next 11 runs to take a 12-4 victory in five innings. Stiles drove in three runs in a 2-for-4 performance including the final run to end the game in the fifth. Eight different Lady Moc players registered a hit and six also tallied an RBI.

Toeing the rubber for Chattanooga was Waters, who pitched an effective first inning, but a couple of infield base hits put some pressure on the junior as the Panthers scored four. With one out, Irwin, the team's stopper, came on to retire the side. She picked up the victory after striking out two in 2.2 innings pitched. Loudermilk came on for the fifth and fanned one.

Leading off the first, Stiles beat out an infield single to the first baseman and stole her 12th bag of the season moving into scoring position. Senior Kaiti Kelley (Chattanooga, Tenn.) used a sacrifice bunt to get Stiles to third. The first run of the game came home on a perfectly executed suicide squeeze by senior Tia Blosser (Knoxville, Tenn.).

For the Panthers in the second, Brown led off with a bunt single and advanced to second on a bunt. A double barely fair down the left field line tied the contest. A single to the pitcher, a passed ball and a stolen base put a runner on third and Denee' Menzione singled up the middle pushing the second run across the plate.

After a pitching change that brought in Irwin, Nelson beat out an infield single to short. She was able to get out of the inning only surrendering two runs giving the Panther a 4-1 advantage.

The Lady Mocs did not begin their comeback until the third inning, when senior Lynleigh Hurndon (McDonough, Ga.) walked and Kelley reached on a throwing error by the third baseman that was off target. With two outs and runners in scoring position, Baker made sure that the Panthers paid doubling into the left center field gap to put Chattanooga within one. Waters took herself off the hook for a pitching decision by plating Baker with a double off the left field fence to knot the score at four.

Chattanooga took the momentum into the fourth with junior Lauren Flores (Ft. Oglethorpe, Ga.) starting the inning with a single up the middle and freshman Sara Poteat (Thomaston, Ga.) singled into the hole between first and second. Hurndon executed a sacrifice bunt moving both runners into scoring position. Stiles put the Lady Mocs on top for good with a 2-RBI single to right center, advancing to second on the throw.

A single to left center by Kelley put Chattanooga up 7-4. After Blosser reached on a fielder's choice, she scored on three-straight pitches before Baker flew out ending the inning.

For the second time on the day, Waters started an inning with a home run, but this time it was an opposite field blast over the fence in right center. It was the fourth long ball for the Soddy Daisy, Tenn., native this season.

The hit barrage continued with two-straight infield singles by Flores and Poteat, both players advancing to scoring position on a wild pitch. A suicide squeeze play executed by Hurndon and two defensive mistakes brought in the final three runs for the Lady Mocs to total an eight run lead.

"We had the right people in the right places," said Reed. "We have confidence in our kids and we worked really hard on bunting and making sure we're getting our bunts down this week. The first squeeze worked and then we had a good combination of people in the lineup and so we tried it again and a third time. I am praising the base runners, but especially those kids that we ask to put the bunt down in those situations."

Three pitchers saw action in the contest as Natalie Wunderlich took the loss giving up five earned and striking out three. Hailie Ray and Amber May were need for the Panthers to pitch the final inning.

Continuing with the Lady Mocs theme of the entire team getting into the action, Eastern Illinois had seven players each recording one hit. Two of the three errors by the Panthers came in the final frame of the contest.

The Lady Mocs return to the softball diamond on Saturday when they travel to Belmont for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. EST. The play-by-play voice of Chattanooga softball, Tyler Brown, will be making the short trip to Nashville, Tenn., as well to provide radio broadcast for the All-Access portion of GoMocs.com.