ATHENS, Ga. - After the rain finally passed at the Bulldog Invitational on Sunday, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team's upset bid of No. 1 Georgia (17-1) fell just short as the Bulldogs came back to win in walkoff fashion, 4-3, by scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh. Senior third baseman Tiffany Baker (East Ridge, Tenn.) connected on two home runs on the day with the first, a three-run shot, lifting the Lady Mocs, 9-7, in the top of the ninth against Campbell (8-10).

"Michelle Fuzzard came out and pitched an awesome game for us against Georgia," said head coach Frank Reed. " I think that this gives you an indication of how far these girls have come and bought into a total team effort. We can spin it to a positive, but the bottom line is this that I think this program ready to do something special."

Senior pitcher Michelle Fuzzard (Huntington Beach, Calif.) registered the win as a reliever against Campbell and threw a complete game against the Bulldogs to move to 7-3 on the season. Fuzzard combined to strikeout five in her two appearances.

Baker went 4-for-8 on the day with five RBI, while senior outfielder Lyndsey Stiles (Hixson, Tenn.) also notched four hits including her third triple of the season and an RBI. Stiles was key against Campbell going 3-for-3 and drawing two walks, while crossing the plate four times.

The Lady Mocs are back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Tennessee Tech for a single game at 5 p.m. for their first of three mid-week dates of the season. Chattanooga enters Southern Conference play this weekend by hosting Samford in the Southern Rail Rivalry Series. First pitch of the Saturday doubleheader is scheduled for 1 p.m., while the finale will begin at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Game One: Chattanooga 9, Campbell 7 (9 inn.)

Chattanooga needed extra innings to down Campbell, 9-7, in nine. Senior third baseman Tiffany Baker (East Ridge, Tenn.) hit a three-run home run in the top of the ninth with two outs to propel the Lady Mocs. Baker drove in a team-leading four runs.

"It has been a long weekend here in Athens," said Reed. "We laid around in a hotel room all day yesterday waiting on the rain. It really makes it tough and I have to give the kids credit that they came out today ready to play. We scored some runs early, but got a little complacent and let them get back into the game. Fortunately, we came back with a big hit in the second inning of the international tie breaker and won the game. It was alright, but I think that we might have been looking a little ahead towards Georgia.

In the circle, senior pitcher Nikki Waters (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) threw five innings and struck out six, while only allowing three runs. Senior Kandice Irwin (Knoxville, Tenn.) blew her first save situation of the season with two outs in the seventh as she fanned four in 2.2 innings, while Fuzzard went 1.1 innings to improve to 7-2 on the year.

"Nikki is starting to find a little bit of consistency and threw an awesome game," stated Reed. "She gave up a couple of hits there in the sixth and Kandice has been our closer all year. Nikki deserved the win and pitched well enough. She is the type of player that it doesn't matter if the win goes in her column or not. She is a team player all the way anyway, and it is good to see her starting to pick it up going into conference play."

Offensively, the Lady Mocs registered 11 hits, senior centerfielder Lyndsey Stiles was the catalyst going 3-for-3, drew two walks and drove in one, while scoring four times. Junior shortstop Lauren Flores (Ft. Oglethorpe, Ga.) and Baker registered two hits during the contest.

To start off the top of the first, Stiles and sophomore second baseman Sara Poteat (Thomaston, Ga.) beat out infield singles. A fielding miscue allowed Fuzzard to load the bases.

Chattanooga took a 1-0 lead on Baker's single to third base scoring Stiles. The Lady Mocs were unable to push across another run as the shortstop turned a double play and a ground out ended the frame.

After notching three hits in the first, junior shortstop Jessica Traxler (Chino Hills, Calif.) singled up the middle to continue the hit barrage for the Lady Mocs. Following a fielder's choice by Powers, Flores singled to left.

With a runner in scoring position, Stiles registered a single up the middle to put the Lady Mocs up, 2-0. Poteat loaded the bases by reaching on a sac bunt via a throwing error by the pitcher.

The bases were loaded for Fuzzard, who hit a ball that the shortstop misplayed to score Flores. A wild pitch scored Stiles, but Poteat got caught in a rundown between third and home for the second out of the inning. Chattanooga ended the inning with three runs on three hits and forced two Campbell miscues to take a 4-0 advantage.

Defensively, the Lady Mocs retired the first five Camels in order before an error at short allowed a runner to reach base, but Waters notched her second strikeout of the game to end the second.

Campbell notched its first run of the game on a Keeli Michael single up the middle that scored Taylor McGee, who started the inning with a double. Following a successful sacrifice bunt by Katie Hinton, Lizzie Goldbach manufactured a run with a groundout to second. Waters got out of the jam with a fly out to right.

With two outs in the fourth, Stiles tripled into the right center field gap for her second hit of the contest. Another fielding mistake for Campbell, the fifth of the day, this time by the second baseman allowed Stiles to score, 5-2, and Poteat to reach.

Waters notched strikeout number three and four in retiring the side in order during the fourth and added two more in the sixth.

A leadoff double to left center and a single to the same location brought Campbell within two, 5-3, to chase Waters in the bottom-half of the frame. Head Coach Frank Reed called the bullpen and sent in Irwin, who recorded a ground out and fanned two hitters to end the inning.

After a walk to Stiles and single by Fuzzard, the Lady Mocs were poised to add to their lead with runners on the corners. Freshman pinch runner Layne Rainey (Clarksville, Tenn.) entered for Fuzzard and swiped her first career bag to put two runners in scoring position.

With two outs, Chattanooga was unable to extend the lead and it proved to be costly in the seventh as McGee started a rally with a single to right. After back-to-back strikeouts by Irwin, Hinton singled to left and two runs scored to knot the score at five on a two RBI double by Goldback to right center.

Tydingco started the eighth on second and moved to third on a successful sacrifice bunt from senior right fielder Della Harrison (Nashville, Tenn.). Tydingco scored on a single through the right side from Traxler.

The Camels began their half with a sacrifice bunt as well and a groundout to short brought the tying run across. Two-straight singles chased Irwin and Fuzzard came on in relief to strikeout the final batter.

In the ninth, Flores was placed on second and Stiles was intentionally walked. Baker stepped up the the plate with two outs and drove a 2-0 pitch over the fence in right to give the Lady Mocs a 9-6 lead. Fuzzard allowed the runner placed on second to score, but was able to retire the Camels in order.

Game Two: No. 1 Georgia 4, Chattanooga 3

The upset bid for Chattanooga came up short against No. 1 Georgia, who scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh for the walk off 4-3 victory. Baker put the Lady Mocs on top 3-0 in the second with a solo blast to left that silenced the crowd at Jack Turner Stadium.

The Bulldogs responded to cut the lead to one, 3-2, with single runs in the third and fourth. The Lady Mocs held that advantage until the bottom of the seventh when Megan Wiggins doubled in the game-winning run after the Bulldogs tied it up with a Taylor Schlopy tied it up with a double.

Fuzzard threw a brilliant game for the Lady Mocs, a complete game, and struck out four. She provided Chattanooga the opportunity to knock off Georgia by keeping a powerful lineup off balance the entire afternoon.

Each team notched a hit during the first with Baker singling to center.

Leading off the second, Harrison singled to the shortstop and junior catcher Vivian Morimoto (San Paulo, Brazil) drew a walk. Following a sacrifice by Flores that moved both runners into scoring position, the speed by Stiles caused the pitcher to rush the throw as the ball went into right field scoring Morimoto and Harrison, who were running on the play with two outs, 2-0.

"Obviously, it was big to take the early lead," said Reed. "They obviously made a throwing error, but one thing that we did was put it in play and tested them in a tough situation as the pitcher hurried the throw."

With one out in the third, Baker connected on a towering home run to left to put the Lady Mocs on top, 3-0. Following a pitching change that brought in Alison Owen, the next batter, Tydingco just missed a home run as the right fielder made the catch at the wall.

"We did a good job hitting the first pitcher from Georgia," said Reed. "Our kids did a good job of putting the ball in play even against the second pitcher. We put the ball in play against two good pitchers and that is a good sign for our offense going forward."

After a great play by Traxler at short in the bottom-half, Wiggins doubles off the left field wall. A walk and fielder's choice at second put runners on the corners and the Bulldogs scored on an illegal pitch as Ashley Razey swung at strike three with two outs, 3-1. An illegal pitch allows for base runners to advance a base and a ball is awarded to the batter. Fuzzard was able to fan Ashley Razey on the next pitch ending the frame.

The Lady Mocs went down in order in the fifth, but Georgia cut the lead to one on a pinch-hit home run by Julie Echols with two outs, 3-2.

To start the fifth, Stiles singled to center and then stole second for the 14th time this season. She would be stranded though as the Lady Mocs were unable to tack on an additional run.

Georgia's Owens retired Chattanooga in order during the final two frames to keep Georgia within striking distance. Owens fanned six in 4.2 innings, while just giving up a single hit. The Lady Mocs were on top of starter Morgan Mentemayor scoring all three runs on three hits in 2.1 innings pitched.