The Chattanooga Mocs softball team had five individuals honored with Southern Conference postseason recognition, the league office announced Tuesday. 

Seniors Criket Blanco and Sam Taylor and freshmen Amanda Beltran and Jordan Fortel made it on the All-SoCon Second Team. Beltran, Fortel and Ashley Conner were honored as All-Freshman Team selections.

At second base, Blanco boasted a .335 batting average and 56 hits, while batting in a team-best 35. She also hit 12 doubles and seven home runs.

Taylor led the squad with 46 hits, including 13 doubles and five homers. At center field, she made 45 putouts in 52 games played.

Fortel is the lone designated player on the All-SoCon Second Team. She had a .331 batting average, 53 hits and batted in 32. Additionally, Fortel knocked out 13 doubles and six home runs.

As a utility player, Beltran saw action in 33 games as catcher, designated player and at first base. She posted 21 hits, while batting in 20, in addition to an unblemished 1.000 fielding percentage.

At third base, Conner tallied 36 hits with four homers and 28 RBI. Defensively, she registered 28 putouts in 51 games played.

MOCS TRAVEL TO GREENSBORO FOR SOCON TOURNAMENT
The Chattanooga Mocs softball team travels to Greensboro, N.C., as the No. 6 seed in the double-elimination Southern Conference Tournament May 11-14. UTC faces No. 3 seeded Western Carolina Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. (E.D.T.).

"I wanted to play a team we hadn't played in a few weeks and a team that we had beaten twice," head coach Frank Reed stated. "I think it's a good draw for us. If we play good softball, we have a shot at being in the finals."

Chattanooga (28-27, 7-11 SoCon) is the two-time defending champion of the Southern Conference Tournament and has amassed a league-record 13 titles. In 2015, the Mocs beat Western Carolina 5-4 and Mercer 7-6 and 3-1.

UTC is coming off a 1-2 series against ETSU in Frost Stadium. In the final game, the Mocs run-ruled the Bucs 11-3.

"It's sad it was our last game at home this year," commented Reed. "We played so well in the last game. You wonder why we didn't play that well in the first two games. We had the offense in both games to have won, but we still needed the pitching and defense.

"We had all three of those in game three, and that's something we're going to have to do moving forward into the tournament."

UTC won a 2-1 series over the Catamounts in Cullowhee, N.C., April 9-10. The Mocs lost 3-0 before winning 4-3 and 12-2 in five innings to improve their all-time record against Western Carolina to 28-4.

All games have live stats and video. On the first three days of the tournament, the contests are broadcast on the SoCon Digital Network. The game(s) on Saturday is on ESPN3.

Links for Chattanooga's matchups can be found on the softball schedule page on GoMocs.com.