The Chattanooga Mocs softball team fell to Samford 5-4 wrapping up the series in Birmingham, Ala. UTC is 19-19 and 2-4 in Southern Conference play.

"As good as Samford is, our kids deserve a lot of credit because we were right there with them in two ball games," head coach Frank Reed stated. "We lost two games by one run. This is a team that's fighting."

The Bulldogs got on the board first with a two-run homer by Callie Brister in the first inning.

Freshman Amanda Beltran answered with her best performance so far this season. She hit her first career home run to left center in the second inning, decreasing Samford's lead to 2-1.

Beltran was the second Moc to hit her first career homer this weekend. Freshman Alyssa Coppinger hit hers in the second game of the day on Saturday.

In the top of the fourth, Beltran then brought in a three-run homer to give UTC its first lead of the game 4-2. She finished the game with a career-best four RBI.

"Amanda is capable of doing that," commented Reed. "I watched her this week and she was a player I wanted to come in off the bench."

Samford's Kelsey Royalty scored off a double from Megan Dowdy, who was then brought home off a single by Shelby Maze. This tied the game up 4-4 in the bottom of the fourth.

The Bulldogs took the lead again in the bottom of the sixth after Dowdy scored her second run of the game.

"We're fighting with half an arsenal," Reed said. "After putting our starting lineup in, we had one player left that could swing and one that could run bases. It's not fun being there. But I'm not taking anything away from our players, because they did everything they could to try and win a game with things stacked against us."

Samford moves to 21-15 and 6-0 in league play.

Chattanooga returns home to face Middle Tennessee Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. in Frost Stadium.

Tickets for individual games in Frost Stadium are $5 for adults and $3 for youth. UTC students are admitted free with a valid Mocs Card.

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