CHATTANOOGA – The Chattanooga Mocs softball team is set to travel to Birmingham, Ala., for a key three-game Southern Conference series against the Samford Bulldogs on Friday and Saturday.
All three games will be streamed LIVE on the Southern Conference Digital Network, courtesy of Samford Athletics. Links for video and live stats can be found on the schedule page.
Friday's doubleheader is slated for a 5 p.m. ET start while Saturday's series finale first pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET. This will be the lone Friday-Saturday SoCon series of the season due Easter weekend.
Chattanooga is coming off a tough conference-opening three-game sweep against Mercer. The Mocs held sixth inning leads in games one and two of the series, but dropped both contests. Mercer claimed an 11-0 victory in five innings on Sunday to complete the sweep.
Full opponent preview and game notes can be found below. Follow @GoMocsSB on Twitter for the most up-to-date information regarding Chattanooga softball.
Previewing: Samford (10-24, 1-1 SoCon)
Samford enters the weekend with a 10-24 overall record and an even 1-1 mark in Southern Conference action. The Bulldogs split a pair of games at ETSU on the opening weekend. The three-game series was cut short due to weather.
Samford is led by All-Southern Conference first team selection Shelby Maze, who leads the team with a .330 batting average and 33 hits. She also provides speed on the base paths as she is a perfect 9-for-9 in stolen base attempts this season. Hannah Trumbley follows Maze with a .318 average and 27 hits while ranking second on the team with four homeruns.
Taylor DeCelles has thrown a team-high 82.0 innings for the Bulldogs while pitching to a 5.20 ERA. McKenna Gillespie leads the team with a 3.90 ERA in 61.0 innings pitched. Annalyn Yantis has chipped in with 60.1 innings in the circle in a team-high 20 appearances.
Chattanooga Team Notes | Game Notes
- The high-powered offense of the Chattanooga Mocs have had eleven different student-athletes register at least one homerun this season. That ties the most in program history as UTC has done it only twice before during the 2006 & 2016 seasons.
- The Chattanooga Mocs have produced 35 sacrifice hits this season, nine more than the next team (UNCG) in the Southern Conference.
- Chattanooga is 1-5 in their last six games in Birmingham. Samford has also claimed the last seven meetings, marking the longest streak UTC has allowed to a SoCon opponent in program history.
Chattanooga Individual Notes | Game Notes
- Senior infielder Brook Womack leads the Southern Conference with a .398 batting average and ranks in the top five in multiple categories.
- Womack belted a solo homerun in game one against Mercer on Saturday for her team-leading fourth homerun of the season.
- She also leads the team in RBI (21) & total bases (50).
- Freshman catcher Cameren Swafford registered her first career homerun during Saturday's 2-1 loss.
- For the season, Swafford is batting .316 (6-for-19) with a homerun, a double & a pair of RBI.
- Senior J.J. Hamill leads the league with eight sacrifice bunts while Alyssa Coppinger & Ashley Conner are tied for third with four. Hayleigh Weissenbach has produced a pair of sacrifice flies which ties for third in the SoCon.
- Weissenbach also leads the entire Southern Conference with 35 hits this season.
