Courtesy: Jeff Hurndon
Junior pinch hitter Della Harrison rounds thrid base after hitting a grand slam in the seventh inning
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Chattanooga at Samford
March 28, 2010 |
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Birmingham, Ala. (Bulldog Field)
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| Team |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
R |
H |
E |
| UTC (22-8, 6-0) |
1 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
12 |
12 |
1 |
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7SAM (9-18, 1-8)
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0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
Game Notes:
- Junior Della Harrison hit her first career home run, a grand slam in the seventh inning as a pinch hitter. Senior Tia Blosser had a grand slam yesterday in the 7-4 victory over Samford.
- Junior Nikki Waters notched her second-straight win and the fifth of the season for Chattanooga. Waters also went 2-for-4 at the plate driving in two runs.
- Junior Lauren Flores tripled for the second time in her career driving in three runs. The last time Flores hit a triple was last season versus North Florida (2/22/09)
- The sacrifice fly by senior Brittany Eason was the second in her career with the first coming against Western Carolina (5/7/08).
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A seventh inning pinch hit grand slam by junior Della Harrison (Nashville, Tenn.) gave the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team a 12-1 victory at Samford leading to a sweep the three game series. Junior Lauren Flores (Ft. Ogelthorpe, Ga.) broke the game wide open with a bases loaded triple to give the Lady Mocs a 7-0 lead in the second inning.
"I thought that we hit the ball well all weekend," said head coach Frank Reed. "I felt like that we had a lot of opportunities that did not fall in for us. I thought that we let them hang around for two games and made them feel like they could [steal a game]. We gradually scored some runs early and hit the ball really well today. Della had a big hit in the seventh inning to cap it off. She also came through yesterday. We got to build off that and take care of business after sweeping on the road."
Taking the mound for Chattanooga (2-8, 6-0 SoCon) was junior Nikki Waters (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.), who relieved Brooke Loudermilk (Locust Grove, Ga.) after she walked the first batter on four illegal pitches. Waters went the distance for the Lady Mocs striking out five Samford (9-18, 1-8 SoCon) hitters and only yielding one run on three hits.
Junior Lyndsey Stiles (Hixson, Tenn.), senior Tia Blosser (Knoxville, Tenn.), Waters, Flores and freshman Sara Poteat (Thomaston, Ga.) each had two hits on the day as the Lady Mocs recorded 12. Flores, Harrison and Waters each had multi-RBI games.
For Samford taking the mound in the first was Stephanie Royall, who walked Waters with the bases loaded to give Chattanooga a 1-0 lead. Starting off the game was Stiles with a single to the pitcher and then Blosser doubled hitting the left field fence on one bounce.
Control problems continued for Royall after singles by Flores up the middle and Poteat into shallow left center to put two runners on. Royall walked the next three and hit junior Tiffany Baker (East Ridge, Tenn.), the fifth time in the series, making the score 2-0 in favor of UTC after was out Flores trying to advance home on a wild pitch. Waters come through with an RBI single and a sacrifice fly by senior Brittany Eason (Chattanooga, Tenn.) put the Lady Mocs up 4-0.
With the bases still loaded and two outs, Flores drove a pitch the other way down the right field line for a triple and three RBI as Chattanooga scored for the seventh time in the inning. It was the second career triple for Flores, who hit one against North Florida on Feb. 22, 2009.
"I knew when they shifted that I was going to get a slower pitch because they assumed that I was going to pull it," said Flores. "I moved up in the box and tried to take it to right field."
In the fourth inning with runners on first and second, Rachael Reeves for the Bulldogs singled up the middle scoring the only run on the afternoon for Samford.
After three hits over the next four innings, the Lady Mocs' offense flexed its muscles in the seventh when Flores reached on an error, Poteat singled through the right side and Stiles walked to load the bases.
All setting the stage for coach Reed to pinch hit Harrison for senior Kaiti Kelley (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and she did not disappoint driving the ball over the fence in center for the first home run of her career. It was the second grand slam that Chattanooga hit on the weekend as Blosser connected on one in the second game on Saturday against the Bulldogs.
"Today that pitch was like a big pumpkin," said Harrison following the game. "I was expecting to get a hit and drive some runs, but not that [a grand slam]."
For Samford, Amanda Barrs was credited for the loss dropping her record to 1-11 on the season. She pitched five innings strikingout one, while Royal toed the rubber for two innings.
The Lady Mocs are back in action on Wednesday when they travel to Atlanta, Ga. to battle Georgia State with the first pitch of a doubleheader scheduled for 5 p.m.
Chattanooga returns to Southern Conference this weekend when it hosts Western Carolina for a three-game series. Due to Easter weekend, the first game of the series will be on Friday night at 6 p.m. and the doubleheader is on Saturday beginning at Noon.
