The Chattanooga Mocs softball team beat Furman 5-4 to clinch the Southern Conference opening series 2-1 in Frost Stadium. UTC improves to 19-16.

"We played with heart this weekend," head coach Frank Reed stated. "I want to be able to maintain that. We put the ball in play, we pitched well and we did the things we needed to do to win." 

Chattanooga had 12 hits, a tie for the season best.

"You've got to be proud of them, and we represented Chattanooga well this weekend," commented Reed. "No matter how beat up they are, our team keeps fighting." 

The Paladins put up one run in the first by Candace Johnson.

UTC answered by scoring twice in the bottom of the first. Senior Sam Taylor got it started with a double to center field. She was batted in off freshman Jordan Fortel's single. Hitting her seventh double of the season, senior Criket Blanco brought Fortel home to give the Mocs a 2-1 lead.

"All weekend we had to know what we needed to do," Reed explained. "We weren't going to wait to make adjustments. We needed to make them right out of the shoot. The team bought into that, and we had 12 hits today."   

In the top of the second, Furman had runners on second and third with only one out. Chattanooga put together a double play to end the inning and stop the Paladins from scoring.

UTC had three back-to-back hits in the third by Sam Taylor, Alyssa Taylor and Fortel. Senior Anyssa Robles hit a sacrifice fly, batting in Sam Taylor and extending Chattanooga's lead to 3-1.

Freshman Katie Corum hit her first career home run in the fourth, making it 4-1 for the Mocs.

In the fifth, Blanco tallied Chattanooga's last run. She was batted in by sophomore Kailey Palazzolo.

The Paladins' AnnaRose Borrelli hit a two-run homer in the top of the seventh to bring the score within one run.

Sophomore Cori Jennings tossed a complete game, earning her eighth win of the season.

The Mocs travel to Birmingham, Ala., next weekend for their series against Samford. The two squads face each other in a doubleheader starting Saturday, April 2 at 2:00 p.m. (E.D.T.) and a lone game April 3 at 2:00 p.m.

Chattanooga's next home game is April 6 at 6:00 p.m. against Middle Tennessee.

Check the softball schedule page on GoMocs.com for links to live stats and video.