CHATTANOOGA – The Chattanooga Mocs softball team couldn't hold on to a pair of sixth inning leads and suffered a sweep to the hands of Mercer on the opening weekend of Southern Conference play at Frost Stadium.
The Mocs fell 6-3 in nine innings in game one before dropping a 2-1 decision in game two. Chattanooga falls to 14-19 overall and 0-2 in conference play. Mercer improves to 21-10, 2-0 this season.
"We were just a hit away from winning both games today," said head coach
Frank Reed. "We need to focus a little more on run production in late innings, but with the adjustments we have made offensively and in the circle over the last month, I think we will see that take care of itself."
"It's just going to take us to get hot in conference play and I think we'll see some wins starting to show up for us."
Chattanooga and Mercer close out the series tomorrow at Frost Stadium with a 2 p.m. first pitch time. The game will be broadcasted LIVE on ESPN3 and the link can be found on the schedule page.
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GM1 | Mercer 6, Chattanooga 3 (9)
The scoring started early for the Mocs as they plated a run in the first, second and third innings to begin the game.
Emma Sturdivant singled to center field and brought in
Hayleigh Weissenbach in the first to give UTC a 1-0 lead.
J.J. Hamill added to the lead in the bottom of the second with an RBI single down the line in left, scoring
Devan Brown from second.
Brook Womack stayed hot at the plate and belted her fourth homerun of the season in the third inning, a solo shot off the scoreboard to push the Mocs ahead 3-0.
The game was quiet until the top of the fifth when Mercer scored its first runs on a two-out RBI single from Laurenne Sanchez. The Bears followed with RBI singles in both the sixth and seventh innings to tie things up 3-3.
Chattanooga put the winning run at second base in the bottom of the seventh with two outs, but a foul out to third base sent the game into extra innings.
After a scoreless eighth inning, Mercer plated three runs, two earned, in the top of the ninth to take a 6-3 lead. Meghan Rud singled in a pair of runs after a muffed throw at first base put runners on second and third with one out. Caroline Taylor roped an RBI single to center, pushing the Mercer advantage to 6-3. Chattanooga went down in order to end the ninth.
Allison Swinford earned a no decision as the starting pitcher for UTC. She tossed seven innings while allowing just three earned runs and striking out five.
Alexa Veamoi (1-2) suffered the loss in relief after allowed three runs, two earned, in the top of the ninth inning.
UTC busted out for eight hits in the first three innings, but were limited to only one hit from that point on. Seven different Mocs recorded at least a hit while Brown had the lone multi-hit game with a 2-for-4 performance. Hamill, Womack and Sturdivant all recorded an RBI in the loss.
GM2 | Mercer 2, Chattanooga 1
After three and a half innings of scoreless ball, freshman
Cameren Swafford belted her first career homerun, a solo shot, with one out to give UTC a 1-0 lead.
Chattanooga would hold on to that lead until the top of the sixth when Mercer tied things up on an RBI double to center field. The Bears would tack-on the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh on a suicide squeeze with one out.
The Mocs couldn't put together a rally in the home half to force another extra inning affair.
Celie Hudson (5-9) suffered the loss in the circle, but pitched a quality game from start to finish. Hudson threw six innings and allowed just six hits and two earned runs while striking out four.
Chattanooga registered six hits but left seven runners on base in the loss.
Hayleigh Weissenbach finished 2-for-3 while
J.J. Hamill added a double on a 1-for-4 performance. Swafford finished 1-for-2 with a homerun and RBI.
