Courtesy: Jeff Hurndon
Senior Brittany Eason tied the game up in the sixth inning as a pinch hitter singling to the shortstop as the ball squirted into shallow left field.
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Chattanooga at Appalachian State
April 17, 2010 |
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Boone, N.C. (Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium)
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| Team |
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3 |
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6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
R |
H |
E |
| UTC (35-13, 14-3) |
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0 |
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2 |
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2 |
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6 |
0 |
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ASU (24-21, 8-12)
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1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
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2 |
10 |
2 |
WP: Kandice Irwin (9-0) LP: Frannie Seader (5-5)
Game Notes:
- Junior Kandice Irwin picked up win number nine on the season, while striking out a season-high seven in the contest
- The Lady Mocs played in their seventh extra inning affair and are 6-1 on the season.
- Junior Tiffany Baker had her 10th multi-hit game, tied for second on the team.
- Chattanooga left 20 on base in the game, while Appalachian State stranded eight.
BOONE, N.C. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team defeated Appalachian State 4-2 in 10 innings Sunday in Boone, N.C. capturing the series and staying atop of the Southern Conference. The Lady Mocs rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie the contest at two in the top of the sixth sending the games to extra inning.
Chattanooga improved to 35-13 overall and 15-3 in the Southern Conference and keep a two game distance in the loss column with Elon. Appalachian State fell to 23-22 and 8-12 in conference games.
After a passed ball allowed freshman Kasey Tydingco (Fairfield, Calif.) to advance to third in the international tiebreaker during the 10th, Appalachian State decided to intentionally walk the bases loaded putting senior Tia Blosser (Knoxville, Tenn.) and junior Tiffany Baker (East Ridge, Tenn.) on base.
A groundball off the bat of junior Nikki Waters (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) to the second baseman, who threw home and Tydingco beat the throw allowed UTC to take a 3-2 lead. Then, junior Lauren Flores (Ft. Oglethorpe, Ga.) grounded out to the shortstop as Blosser came in to score. The inning would end on an unconventional double play off the bat of senior Kaiti Kelley (Chattanooga, Tenn.), where the Mountaineers were able to get Baker out at home.
In the circle, junior Kandice Irwin (Knoxville, Tenn.) threw seven shutout innings for Chattanooga securing her ninth win of the season. Irwin struck out four and only walked on coming in for relief of junior Nikki Waters (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) in the fourth inning.
Baker paced the Chattanooga offense going 2-for-4, while Tydingco, Waters, Kelley, and Eason each notched a hit to total six on the day. The Mountaineers were able to register 10 hits in the loss.
During the third inning, Sarah Rappe led off the frame with a single to left field and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Another single to left by Katie Boyd gave the Mountaineers an early 1-0 advantage as Rappe crossed the plate.
Appalachian State chased Waters after a leadoff triple by Megan Smith in the fourth. After Irwin came in, McKenzie Phillips singled in the runner from third to take a 2-0 lead.
The contest would remain scoreless until the sixth when Chattanooga would score twice as coach Reed went into his bag of tricks again. Waters led off the inning with a single to right center. Then a string of three pinch hitters began for the Lady Mocs with sophomore Jenni Martin (East Ridge, Tenn.) flying out to left center field at the fence.
Junior pinch hitter Della Harrison (Nashville, Tenn.) drew a walk as the Lady Mocs had runners on first a second. Harrison and Waters advanced to scoring position after a passed ball. Pinch hitter Eason made the Mountaineers pay with a single that eluded the shortstop and landed in left field as Waters scored and Harrison beat the throw to knot the score at two.
Appalachian State would load the bases in the seventh after an intentional walk to Katie Boyd, but Irwin was up to the task as the Mountaineers lined out to second ending the frame.
In the eighth, Chattanooga had an opportunity to score as Baker led off with a single to right and pinch runner Sara Poteat (Thomaston, Ga.) beat out the throw from the first baseman, who went to second. The next three would be retired in order as the game continued.
Both teams would go down in order during the ninth frame as the teams headed to the international tiebreaker placing a runner on second. The Lady Mocs scored twice in the top of the 10th inning to take a 4-2 lead.
On the first pitch from Irwin, Rappe, the runner on second broke to third and Eason gunned her out erasing the runner as sophomore Jessica Traxler (Chino Hills, Calif.) applied the tag. Irwin retired the rest the side on a groundout to second and a pop up to the pitcher.
Leading the offense for Appalachian State was Megan Rembielak, McKenzie Phillips and Boyd each recording two hits, while Boyd and Phillips drove in a run. Hannah Dow threw seven innings allowing six hits and an earned run, while Frannie Seader took the loss finishing the contest with two strike outs.
The Lady Mocs are back in action next weekend traveling to UNC Greensboro, which will be another important conference matchup. The Saturday doubleheader begins at 1 p.m. where two of the top three teams will battle in the Southern Conference. Sunday the finale between the teams starts at 1 p.m. For all games, live audio and statistics will be available on GoMocs.com
