CHATTANOOGA – The Chattanooga Mocs softball team returns to Frost Stadium for the second-straight weekend to host their annual Frost Classic. In addition to Chattanooga, eight teams will make their way to the Scenic City to participate.
UTC opens up tournament play on Friday at 1:30 p.m. against IUPUI before closing the day with Eastern Illinois at 4 p.m. They'll face Southeast Missouri State (1:30 p.m.) and UT Martin (4 p.m.) on Saturday ahead of Sunday's finale against Evansville (11a.m.). All five games will be broadcasted LIVE on the Southern Conference Digital Network, courtesy of GoMocs.com. Links can be found on the schedule page.
Chattanooga is 4-5 on the season and is coming off a 2-1 victory over Tennessee State on Sunday at the Chattanooga Challenge.
Emma Sturdivant homered and
Amanda Beltran drove in the game winning run with an RBI single in the sixth during the win.
Sturdivant leads the team with a .450 (9-for-20) batting average, fifth-best in the SoCon, and also leads the squad with seven RBIs. Her homerun on Sunday was the first of her career.
Hayleigh Weissenbach is batting .333 (9-for-27) and has registered a hit in all but one game this year while having yet to strikeout. She is also a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts.
The entire tournament schedule, game coverage links and all the information you need can be found at our
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL page. Opponent previews can be found below.
IUPUI Jaguars (1-4)
- 2017 Record: 23-31 (11-6 Horizon)
- Newcomers: 7
- Key Players: INF Dalaney Thompson (So.), INF/OF McKenzie Loge (So.)
IUPUI kicked off their season at the Total Control Sports Invitational in Rosemont, Ill., and went 1-4. They notched an opening day win over Fort Wayne and dropped games to Depaul, Northern Colorado and Loyola (Ill.) before falling in a rematch to Fort Wayne. The Jaguars downed the Mocs 14-3 last season in the Chattanooga Challenge at Frost Stadium.
Eastern Illinois Panthers (7-3)
- 2017 Record: 28-21 (10-5 OVC)
- Newcomers: 5
- Key Players: OF Mia Davis (So.), P Jessica Wireman (Jr.)
Eastern Illinois went 2-3 in the opening weekend Mardi Gras Classic in Lafayette, La., before rattling off five-straight wins last weekend at the Runnin' Bulldog Tournament at Gardner-Webb. The Panthers opened the season with a 4-2 win over Iowa and are a perfect 3-0 against SoCon opponents (Samford, WCU 2x) this year.
SE Missouri State Redhawks (2-3)
- 2017 Record: 23-27 (8-14 OVC)
- Newcomers: 4
- Key Players: OF Rachel Anderson (So.), P Madeline Krumrey (Sr.)
Southeast Missouri State began their 2018 campaign two weekends ago at the Northern Iowa Dome Classic, held in Cedar Falls, Iowa inside UNI's football facility. They picked up wins over South Dakota State and UMKC while dropping games to UNI twice and Drake once. This will be the first ever meeting between Chattanooga and SEMO.
UT Martin Skyhawks (3-6)
- 2017 Record: 39-20 (13-5 OVC)
- Newcomers: 8
- Key Players: 3B Jodie Duncan (Sr.), P Hannah Ridolfi (So.)
The Skyhawks opened up the season at the Mardi Gras Classic in Lafayette, La., and went an even 2-2. They headed to Mississippi State last weekend for an Invitational where they finished 1-4, but all four losses were by a combined ten runs. Chattanooga won last year's matchup with UTM 6-2 during the Frost Classic.
Evansville Purple Aces (2-6)
- 2017 Record: 20-33 (11-15 MVC)
- Newcomers: 8
- Key Players: C Eryn Gould (Fr.), P Morgan Florey (Jr.)
Evansville opened the year at the Louisiana Classic hosted by Louisiana-Lafayette before heading to the Georgia Classic hosted by UGA. The Purple Aces downed SoCon foe Samford 14-6 on opening day and also run-ruled Eastern Illinois, 11-0, to go 2-1 in Louisiana. Evansville dropped one run games to Winthrop twice and a two run game to No. 14 Georgia at last weekend's Georgia Classic.
