BOONE, N.C. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team took the first game 3-1 thanks to a three-run third, but were unable to come up with timely hits in the second half of the doubleheader falling 2-0. Junior Lyndsey Stiles (Hixson, Tenn.) went 3-for-7 pacing the Lady Mocs offensively on the day, while senior Kaiti Kelley (Chattanooga, Tenn.) registered a 2-for-3 performance in game one.

"Kandice [Irwin] pitched awesome today," said head coach Frank Reed. "She got us out of two innings where they were all over us and struck out seven. Normally, Kandice is not a notorious strikeout pitcher, but she had a great outing."

In the circle, junior Kandice Irwin (Knoxville, Tenn.) notched her eighth with of the season, while pitching 4.2 innings of relief and striking out a season-high seven.

"Actually, I like it," said head coach Frank Reed about his lineup shuffle after the doubleheader. "I like Kasey [Tydingco]at two [in the order] because she provides a little bit more pop there. Unfortunately, she was unable to get the squeeze down [in the seventh inning of game one]. I still think that I am going to stay with it."

The major move in the lineup was bumping freshman Kasey Tydingco (Fairfield, Calif.) up the second slot of the order as typical number two hitter Kelley was placed in the seventh hole. Thus, moving sophomore Jessica Traxler (Chino Hills, Calif.) down to the number nine position staggering the left-handed hitters throughout the lineup.

The Lady Mocs after the split are now 34-13 overall and 14-2 in the Southern Conference, while Appalachian State is 23-21 and 8-11 in conference games. After Samford knocked off Elon in game two, Chattanooga still has a three-game lead in the loss column and all the Lady Mocs have to do is secure series victories in the final three of the season.

The rubber match and finale of the series is set for 1 p.m. Sunday from Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium in Boone, N.C. Live stats and audio are available for the contest on GoMocs.com.

Game One: Chattanooga 3, Appalachian State 1

The UTC softball team rallied behind a three-run third inning to take a 3-1 lead as that was all Irwin needed to finish the contest. Stiles and Kelley each registered two hits in the contests.

Junior Nikki Waters (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) started for the Lady Mocs in the circle pitching 2.1 innings and gave up a run. She left the game in the third inning with the bases loaded and one out.

The Lady Mocs relief specialist Irwin came in during the jam and used a strikeout and groundout to end the frame. She continued to pitch well going 4.2 innings for her eighth victory striking out a season-high seven.

"It is kind of more of a boost, personally for me," said Irwin after starting off with a strike out looking. "It helps with your momentum and gets your adrenaline going. It definitely helped me gain some early confidence."

In the one-run second for the Mountaineers, McKenzie Phillips singled and advanced to second as left fielder Lauren Flores (Ft. Oglethorpe, Ga.) was unable to come up with the ball cleanly. After a walk, Megan Smith doubled up the middle as the ball got past the shortstop and torpedoed to the fence in left center as Phillips scored.

Leading off the third inning, Kelley beat out an infield single to first base and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Kelley moved to third on a throwing error by the shortstop as senior Brittany Eason (Chattanooga, Tenn.) was safe at first.

With runners on the corners, senior Tia Blosser (Knoxville, Tenn.) executed a textbook suicide squeeze and Kelley slide around the tag by the catcher Michelle Lighton. Stiles reloaded the bases with a single to the second baseman, Phillips, who made a diving play keeping Eason at third.

Chattanooga went up 2-1 on a walk drawn by Tydingco. An insurance run was added by senior Tia Blosser (Knoxville, Tenn.) on a sacrifice fly as UTC went up 3-1. The Lady Mocs only had one out at that point, but would leave the bases loaded.

After a hit in the fifth and sixth by Blosser and Kelley, Stiles tripled down the left field line in the seventh as the left fielder was unable to come up with a diving grab. It was the first triple of the season for the junior from Hixson, Tenn. She would be picked off at third as Tydingco failed to make contact on a squeeze play.

Every time that the Mountaineers felt like they were going to be able to push a runner across, Irwin had an answer as she used a wide variety of pitches including a looping change up that just baffled some of the hitters.

"When my pitches are all on, the different speeds helps to keep the hitters even more off balance," said Irwin. "It keeps them on their toes and they never know when it is coming. I only threw it one, but I am sure that the hitters were thinking that I could have thrown it again."

The starting pitcher for Appalachian State was Caitlin Wainwright, who went two innings and gave up two earned runs. Frannie Seader completed the game throwing five innings and striking out two keeping the Lady Mocs off balance to give ASU a chance to comeback.

Game Two: Appalachian State 2, Chattanooga 0

The UTC softball team was unable to generate much offense in the second game as Appalachian State pushed two across in the bottom of the sixth for the victory. Stiles and Tydingco had the only hits for the Lady Mocs, both in the top of the sixth.

"We were hitting the ball hard," said Stiles. "We had a lot of hard line drive hits that they just caught. I do not know that there was anything that we were doing because we made adjustments throughout the game. I just think that we hit the ball right where they were positioned."

Senior Brooke Loudermilk (Locust Grove, Ga.) held the Mountaineers in check for five innings, but a couple of strange plays led to two runs, one earned. Loudermilk struck out four in the six innings on the rubber.

The Lady Mocs looked ready to take an early lead as Stiles led off the game reaching on a throwing error by the second baseman that was off target. That was followed by a walk to Tydingco putting runners at first and second with no out. Two-straight strikeouts swinging and a groundout to the third baseman ended the frame for Chattanooga.

Appalachian State's Hannah Dow was superb for the next four innings holding the Lady Mocs hitless.

With one out in the sixth, Stiles singled through the right side and then Tydingco hit a drive high-off the tall 20-foot fence in right field. The high-fly ball kept Stiles as first until hitting the fence, when she just barely beat the throw to second by the right fielder.

"It was the first inside pitch that I had seen all day," said Tydingco. "Lyndsey got on and I know that I had to move her over at least to do my job. That was the first inside pitch all day, so I just jumped on it."

In a move that coach Reed would do differently if he had the chance, Blosser laid down a sacrifice bunt to put two runners in scoring position, but now there were two out. A first-pitch swing by junior Tiffany Baker (East Ridge, Tenn.) ended the scoring chance as the shortstop squeezed the pop up.

Megan Rembielak of the Mountaineers led off the bottom of the sixth with a double to center putting immediate pressure on Loudermilk. Then, Kaitie Boyd drew a hard fought walk and Allie Cashion flew out to first base in foul territory.

The inning change when Rembielak stole third base on a delayed steal. As senior Lynleigh Hurndon (McDonough, Ga.) threw the ball back to Loudermilk, the pitcher looked down and the base runner broke to third without a throw.

Now with runners on the corners, Phillips hit a hard grounder to Blosser, who was unable to make a clean grab and throw it home as the lefty was able to advance to second as the ball squirted behind second base. That play scored Rembiak and Boyd advanced to third.

During the next at bat, a wild pitch from Loudermilk allowed Boyd to score the second run of the game as Appalachian State took a commanding lead. The Lady Mocs would get out of the inning without further damage, but Chattanooga went down in order to end the game.

Phillips had the only RBI in the contest as Rembielak, Meghan Smith and Michelle Gorzelle registered hits for the Mountaineers. Hannah Dow went the distance to notch her sixth victory of the season, while striking out eight.