Courtesy: Dale Rutemeyer
Senior Della Harrison hit seventh home run of the season putting the Lady Mocs up 4-0.
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No. 1 Chattanooga vs. No. 8 Furman
May 11, 2011
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Statesboro, Ga. (Eagle Field)
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FUR (18-34)
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UTC (39-12)
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STATESBORO, Ga. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
softball team began the Southern Conference Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed on
Wednesday and defeated No. 8 Furman, 4-0, at Eagle Field in Statesboro, Ga. Junior
pitcher Michelle Fuzzard (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and senior Kandice Irwin
(Knoxville, Tenn.) combined for a one-hitter in the contest and senior Della
Harrison (Nashville, Tenn.) provided the offense with a two-run shot.
The Lady Mocs improved to 39-12 on the season and advanced
to face No. 5 Elon, who beat No. 4 College of Charleston, 7-5, earlier in the
day, at 3 p.m. on Thursday. The Paladins fall to 18-34 and face the Cougars at
10 a.m. tomorrow.
In the circle, Fuzzard (17-6) tossed five innings yielding just
one hit and striking out three, while Irwin finished the contest with one strikeout.
Registering multi-hit games for Chattanooga was sophomore
second baseman Sara Poteat (Thomaston, Ga.) and Harrison. Senior left fielder
Lauren Flores (Ft. Oglethorpe, Ga.) and Fuzzard each drove in a run for the Lady
Mocs.
The Paladins went down in order during the first, unconventionally,
as Nikki Legg drew a walk and senior third baseman Tiffany Baker (East Ridge, Tenn.) fielded a hard grounder and tossed
the ball to Poteat at second, who turned a double play getting the batter out
by a step at first.
Chattanooga loaded the bases with two outs in the first as
sophomore Sara Poteat (Thomaston, Ga.) singled to third, Baker was hit by a pitch
and junior designated player Vivian Morimoto (Sao Paulo, Brazil) drew a walk.
Leading off the second was Harrison with a single into
center. She moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by junior shortstop Jessica
Traxler (Chino Hills, Calif.). Delivering the first run of the day was Flores,
who singled up the middle.
After Stiles drew a 3-2 walk, Poteat singled past the third
baseman down the left field line to load the bases. Fuzzard drove in her 68th
RBI of the year on a sacrifice fly to left as the Lady Mocs ended the second
with a 2-0 lead.
Following a leadoff walk to Morimoto, Harrison connects on a
two-run shot to left center over the bleachers extending the Lady Mocs lead to
4-0 in the third. The round tripper was the seventh of the season for the Nashville, Tenn., native and the first since March 27 against Appalachian Sate.
Furman's Erin Legg started the fourth with a sharp two-hopper
to the second baseman that went off her glove. Poteat recovered to make a throw that
traveled wide, but the runner headed to second and sophomore first baseman Kasey
Tydingco (Fairfield, Calif.) threw her out at second.
The Lady Mocs defense struggled in the seventh as Furman put
two runners on base with errors, but Irwin was able to end the game on a
strikeout.
Chattanooga returns to action on Thursday at 3 p.m. against No.
5 Elon and fans can follow the action with live stats, audio and video via
links on the softball schedule page at GoMocs.com, the official website of
Chattanooga Athletics. SoCon.tv will provide the video broadcast and
play-by-play commentator Tyler Brown, the voice of Lady Mocs softball, has the radio call.
