Courtesy: GoMocs.com
Senior shortstop Jessica Traxler blasted her second home run in as many games to give the Lady Mocs an early 2-0 lead.
|
No. 1 Georgia Southern vs.
No. 2 Chattanooga
May 10, 2012 |
|
| Boone, N.C. (Sywassink/Lloyd Stadium) |
| Team |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
R |
H |
E |
CHATT (39-15)
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
1
|
GSU (41-17)
|
0
|
4
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
X
|
5
|
9
|
0
|
BOONE, N.C. - The Chattanooga Lady Mocs softball team fell
to Georgia Southern on Friday afternoon, 5-2, in the winner's bracket final of
the Southern Conference Tournament in Boone, N.C. The Lady Mocs will need to
win three games on Saturday to claim the program's 12th tournament title and
the fight begins at 11 a.m. against No. 3 College of Charleston.
"I thought we had a good plan going in," said head coach
Frank Reed. "We hit the home run early in the second inning. We must learn from
today and play everything out. You have to take advantage of every at bat and
make sure it is a quality one. We are a good softball team that can score a lot
of runs and just have to do that tomorrow."
The story of the game was Georgia Southern's Sarah Purvis
(23-9), the SoCon Pitcher of the Year, two hitting the high-powered Lady Mocs
offense, but the team did put the ball in play, only striking out three times. Freshman
Taylor Deason (Clarksville, Tenn.) registered six strikeouts in 5.1 innings of
work, giving up four earned runs to fall to 24-8.
Chattanooga (39-15) struck first in the second inning as senior
shortstop Jessica Traxler (Chino Hills, Calif.) connected on her 12th home run
of the season following a walk drawn by junior first baseman Kasey Tydingco
(Fairfield, Calif.).
Responding in the second was Georgia Southern (41-17) as Mackenzie
Williams walked and Kaitlyn Johnson homered to left to knot the score at two. A single
from Kourtny Thomas continued the Eagles rally and Tabby Douberley doubled off the
fence in left center to take the lead. An unearned run scored as a Lady Mocs
mistake enabled Georgia Southern to take a 4-2 advantage.
In the third, sophomore outfielder Stephanie Rieck
(Chandler, Ariz.) started a two-out rally with a double off the fence down the right
field line. Senior designated player Michelle Fuzzard (Huntington Beach, Calif.) was hit with a pitch to put two runners on, but a fly out
would end the threat.
The Eagles tacked on another run with doubles from Williams
and Andrea Tarashuck to increase the lead to 5-2.
Georgia Southern would ended up registering nine hits in the
contest led by Douberly with two. The Eagles also tallied four doubles.
"Tomorrow is just about who wants it and who wants it more," said
Traxler. "I can honestly say that we believe in our hearts that we want it
more. Maybe today, it wasn't our day. We have to flush it and know what we are
capable of. We need to come out here tomorrow and do all the little things that
will help us in coming out with a win."
Chattanooga begins play on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. and
fans can follow all the action with live stats, free audio and video links on the
softball schedule page of GoMocs.com.
