Courtesy: Jeff Hurndon
Senior catcher Brittany Eason went 3-for-3 on Senior Day and drove in three runs.
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Coll. of Charleston at Chattanooga
May 8, 2010 |
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Chattanooga, Tenn. (Frost Stadium)
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| Team |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
R |
H |
E |
| COFC (24-27, 10-13) |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
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UNCG (39-15, 19-5)
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0 |
2 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
X |
9 |
12 |
2 |
Game Notes:
- The three hits and three RBI are both season-high for senior Brittany Eason.
- Senior Brooke Loudermilk notched victory number 17 on the season, while adding seven strikeout to her career total of 865, a SoCon and UTC record.
- Juniors Lyndsey Stiles and Lauren Flores also had multi-hit games at the top of the lineup for Chattanooga.
- The four doubles by Baker, Stiles, Flores and Eason were the most by the Lady Mocs in a single game this season.
- Chattanooga reached double digits in hits for the 15th time this season.
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Prior to Sunday's contest, seniors Tia Blosser (Knoxville, Tenn.), Brittany Eason (Chattanooga, Tenn.), Lynleigh Hurndon (McDonough, Ga.), Kaiti Kelley (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Brooke Loudermilk (Locust Grove, Ga.) were honored as they lead Chattanooga to a 9-3 victory over the College of Charleston. Eason paced the offense going 3-for-3 with three runs batted in during her final home contest at Frost Stadium.
"It is really good that our offense stepped up," said catcher Eason. "Especially going into the tournament because we need that momentum. I don't know what the difference was today compared to the last couple weeks, but we are going to bring it to the tournament."
The Lady Mocs finished the regular season at 39-15 overall and 19-5 in the Southern Conference, while the Cougars fell to 24-27 and 10-13 in conference play. The .722 win percentage is the fourth-best by a Chattanooga squad overall and the nineteen SoCon victories is the most for a conference squad passing the 2002 version of the UTC softball team that went 18-2.
"It's always fun when they score early," said head coach Frank Reed. "I am happy for the seniors and glad they had the chance to be honored today. They got a big win at home and I thought that was pretty key."
Pitching for Chattanooga, Loudermilk started the game throwing 4.1 innings and struck out seven, while only yielding a two hits. Irwin came on as a reliever with two runners in scoring position, only allowing one run to cross the plate and fanning two ending the threat in the fifth. She went on to finish the contest pitching 2.2 innings.
With another lineup change by head coach Reed, junior Lauren Flores (Ft. Oglethorpe, Ga.) at the two-hole went 2-for-4 driving in two runs, while in the five-slot freshman Kasey Tydingco (Fairfield, Calif.) scored twice and drove in a run with a single.
After the Lady Mocs went down in order, Tydingco occupying the five slot in the order drew a walk, then Hurndon used a sacrifice bunt to move her to scoring position. After a Kelley walk, senior Eason delivered a two-RBI double into the right center gap plating the two runners on base.
In the third, the Cougars drew three-straight walks to load the bases with two outs and Katie Forbes drove in the only run of the frame with a single into the hole at short cutting the UTC lead to 2-1.
Chattanooga showed why it has locked up its fourth-straight Southern Conference Regular Season title by scoring seven times in the third to take a 9-1 lead. Junior Lyndsey Stiles (Hixson, Tenn.) led off the inning with a double to left, then Flores singled through the left side.
With runners on the corners, Blosser singled up the middle scoring Stiles, then junior Tiffany Baker (East Ridge, Tenn.), who has been in a mini-slump cleared the bases with a double off the bottom of the right center field fence giving the Lady Mocs a 5-1 advantage.
Once Tydingco singled home Baker, a base knock by Hurndon and a fielding error by the shortstop off the bat of Kelley loaded the bases. Eason continued the scoring with a single to right pushing a run across and a two-RBI double to left by Flores capped the inning for Chattanooga.
"It only takes one hit to get out of a slump," said Hurndon following the game. "After we got the first one and scored a couple of runs, there was no stopping us. Hitting is contagious. When we start scoring runs, we are going to score more than one or two."
As Chattanooga was looking to take the game in five innings, CofC mounted a comeback during a one-out rally as it used an error and walk to put a runner in scoring position. Kristie Shifflett singled to the hole on the right side and a bad throw allowed the runner to score. With Irwin in, Katie Nutaitus singled to right driving in a run cutting the UTC lead to 9-3.
The Lady Mocs are back in action on Thursday as the Southern Conference Tournament comes to Frost Stadium. Chattanooga looks to defend its back-to-back-to-back titles starting at 1:30 p.m. against the No. 4 seed. The event begins at 11 a.m., where Elon and the No. 2/3 seed battle in the first contest of the day. The winners of the first session play at 7:30 p.m., while the losers return to action at 5 p.m. later that day. The championship session begins at 11 a.m. on Friday. Tickets for the event are $5 for a single session (three total sessions), while an all-tournament pass is available for $10. Discounted student seats can be purchased for $3/$8.
